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Ligolo is an open-source reverse-tunneling tool written in Go that is used legitimately for network access and penetration testing and repurposed by threat actors during post-compromise operations. It establishes SOCKS5 or TCP tunnels through reverse connections, allowing operators to access internal network services through compromised endpoints and support lateral movement. It is not inherently malicious software.
Ligolo has been used by LockBit affiliates, MuddyWater, Magnet Goblin, and Donot Team. MuddyWater, also tracked as MERCURY and Mango Sandstorm and associated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, has deployed Ligolo through SloughRAT and incorporated Ligolo-based tunneling into its command-and-control tooling. Customized MuddyWater variants have impersonated Cisco and Palo Alto VPN software to evade detection. Magnet Goblin deployed Ligolo alongside Linux NerbianRAT and WARPWIRE during exploitation of Ivanti Connect Secure systems. Windows Ligolo binaries have also been identified in Donot Team activity. Ligolo generally serves as a post-exploitation tunneling component rather than an initial-access payload.
Mallory pivots from this family to the IOCs, detections, and named campaigns that touch your stack, and pages you when something new lands.
4 distinct threat actors attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
LockBit affiliates use Ligolo to establish SOCKS5 or TCP tunnels from a reverse connection.
Among the downloaded payloads are a variant of the WARPWIRE JavaScript credential stealer, a NerbianRAT Linux variant, and Ligolo, an open-source tunneling tool written in GO.
The attackers utilized SloughRAT to deploy Ligolo, an open-source reverse-tunneling tool to gain a greater degree of control over the infected endpoints.
17 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
Step 2: Pivot : Moved laterally from the compromised Exchange server into the internal network. The actor used a Metasploit reverse shell and ran Ligolo as a background process on an internal host for tunneling.
A Ligolo-style reverse tunnel carries internal routing (two internal /24 ranges, one fixed agent token).
The attackers utilized SloughRAT to deploy Ligolo, an open-source reverse-tunneling tool to gain a greater degree of control over the infected endpoints.
the Ligolo reverse tunneling tool which was used against Middle Eastern countries in March 2021
LockBit affiliates use Ligolo to establish SOCKS5 or TCP tunnels from a reverse connection.
The attackers utilized SloughRAT to deploy Ligolo, an open-source reverse-tunneling tool
4 indicators attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
IPs, domains, and DNS infrastructure linked to this family.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
8 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A tunneling/pivoting tool observed in MuddyWater activity to enable operator access into internal target environments.
Open-source Go-based tunneling tool deployed as part of Magnet Goblin’s post-exploitation tooling. It is legitimate dual-use software abused in the campaign, not identified as a custom malware family.
Open-source reverse tunneling tool; observed in customized variants to emulate Cisco/Palo Alto VPN artifacts for evasion.
Open-source reverse tunneling tool used for command-and-control communications and pivoting within victim environments.
Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.
Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.
CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.
Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.