Users in Russia have been targeted by a previously undocumented Android spyware called LianSpy at least from 2021.
Cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky, which discovered the malware in March 2024, noted that it uses Yandex Cloud, a Russian cloud service, for command-and-control (C2) communications as a way to avoid dedicated infrastructure and avoid detection.
“This threat is designed to capture screencasts, steal user files, and collect call logs and application lists,” security researcher Dmitry Kalinin said in a new technical report published on Monday.
It is currently unclear how the spyware is being distributed, but the Russian cybersecurity vendor likely deployed through an unknown security flaw or direct physical access to the target phone. Malware programs disguise themselves as Alipay or Android system service.
Once activated, LianSpy determines whether it runs as a system app to run in the background with administrator rights, or requests a wide range of permissions that allow it to access contacts, call logs and notifications, and draw overlays on the screen.
It also checks if it’s running in a debug environment to set up a configuration that persists across reboots, then hides its icon from the launcher and runs things like taking screenshots, exfiltrating data, and updating the configuration to determine what information needs to be caught.
In some variants, this was found to include options to collect data from popular instant messaging apps in Russia, and allow or prevent malware from running only when connected to Wi-Fi or a mobile network, among other things.
“To update the configuration of the spyware, LianSpy searches for a file matching the regular expression ‘^frame_.+\\.png$’ on the attacker’s Yandex disk every 30 seconds,” said Kalinin. “If the file is found, the file is loaded into the program’s internal data directory.”
The collected data is stored encrypted in a SQL database table with the record type and its SHA-256 hash, so that only a threat actor in possession of the corresponding RSA private key can decrypt the stolen information.
LianSpy demonstrates its stealth in its ability to bypass privacy indicators a feature introduced by Google in Android 12 that requires apps that request microphone and camera permissions to display an icon in the status bar.
“The developers of LianSpy managed to bypass this protection by adding a cast value to the icon_blacklist Android security setting, which prevents notification icons from appearing in the status bar,” Kalinin noted.
“LianSpy hides notifications from the background services it invokes by using the NotificationListenerService service, which handles notifications in the status bar and is able to intercept them.”
Another challenging aspect of malware involves the use of su is binary with a modified name of “mu” to gain root access, making it more likely that it was delivered via a previously unknown exploit or access to a physical device.
LianSpy’s emphasis on flying under the radar also suggests that C2 communication is unidirectional and the malware receives no incoming commands. The Yandex Disk service is used to transfer stolen data and store configuration commands.
Yandex Disk credentials are updated from a hard-coded Pastebin URL, which varies depending on the malware variant. Using legitimate services adds a layer of confusion, effectively obfuscating attribution.
LianSpy is the latest addition to a growing list of spying tools that are often delivered to target mobile devices – be they Android or iOS – by exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities.
“In addition to standard spying tactics such as collecting call logs and application lists, it uses root privileges for secret screen recording and evasion,” Kalinin said. “Its dependency on the renamed su binary strongly suggests a secondary infection after the initial compromise.”
