TeamPCP: When the Cloud Becomes the Worm
- Javier Conejo del Cerro
- hace 4 días
- 3 Min. de lectura
Modern cloud infrastructure was designed for elasticity, speed, and scale. TeamPCP demonstrates how those same properties can be weaponized. What initially looks like opportunistic scanning evolves into a worm-driven, cloud-native criminal ecosystem capable of turning exposed infrastructure into proxy networks, scanning engines, command-and-control relays, and monetization platforms. This is not an advanced zero-day campaign — it is a lesson in how misconfiguration at scale becomes an attack surface at scale.
Phase 1 – Discovery & Initial Access: Scanning the Cloud at Internet Scale
TeamPCP begins by aggressively scanning the internet for exposed cloud services and APIs, focusing on environments that are reachable without authentication or protected by weak controls. The primary entry points include:
Exposed Docker APIs
Public Kubernetes APIs
Open Ray dashboards
Misconfigured Redis servers
Vulnerable React/Next.js applications, including React2Shell (CVE-2025-55182, CVSS 10.0)
Rather than targeting specific companies or sectors, the campaign is purely opportunistic. Any cloud workload running on AWS or Azure that meets these conditions can be pulled into the infection chain, making organizations collateral victims of infrastructure abuse.
Phase 2 – Worm Deployment & Environment Fingerprinting
Once access is achieved, TeamPCP deploys lightweight scripts that immediately fingerprint the execution environment. A key component, proxy.sh, determines whether it is running inside a Kubernetes cluster and dynamically alters execution paths based on the environment detected.
This adaptive behavior allows TeamPCP to maintain separate tradecraft for cloud-native targets, rather than relying on generic Linux malware. In Kubernetes environments, secondary payloads are dropped to harvest cluster credentials, enumerate namespaces and pods, and deploy privileged workloads for persistence across nodes.
Phase 3 – Infrastructure Hijacking & Lateral Expansion
With a foothold established, the compromised infrastructure is transformed into a multi-purpose criminal asset. TeamPCP deploys several coordinated payloads:
scanner.py continuously hunts for new exposed Docker and Ray services using CIDR ranges.
kube.py escalates privileges inside Kubernetes clusters, installs backdoors, and propagates laterally.
pcpcat.py automatically deploys malicious containers or jobs across large IP ranges.
react.py exploits vulnerable React applications for remote command execution at scale.
This phase marks the transition from a single compromise to a self-propagating worm, enabling rapid growth of the attacker’s infrastructure with minimal manual intervention.
Phase 4 – Monetization & Criminal Operations
Once infrastructure control is achieved, TeamPCP monetizes access through multiple revenue streams:
Proxy networks and tunneling for anonymized operations
Cryptocurrency mining using stolen compute resources
Data exfiltration, including leaked databases and identity records
Extortion and ransomware enablement
Command-and-control relays, including infrastructure linked to the Sliver C2 framework
By monetizing both compute power and stolen data, TeamPCP achieves resilience against takedowns — even if one revenue stream is disrupted, others remain active.
Phase 5 – Persistence & Industrialization
What makes TeamPCP particularly dangerous is not innovation, but integration and automation. Known tools, public exploits, and lightly modified open-source components are combined into a system that industrializes cloud abuse. Each infected node strengthens the overall ecosystem, creating what researchers describe as a self-sustaining criminal platform rather than a traditional malware campaign.
Measures to Defend Against TeamPCP
Organizations operating cloud infrastructure should focus on preventing exposure rather than detecting compromise after the fact:
Disable or strictly restrict public access to Docker, Kubernetes, Redis, and Ray APIs
Enforce strong authentication and RBAC on all cloud control planes
Patch vulnerable frameworks, including React/Next.js, without delay
Monitor for unexpected container creation, privileged pods, and outbound proxy activity
Detect anomalous scanning behavior and lateral movement inside cloud networks
Audit cloud environments continuously for misconfigurations and orphaned services
TeamPCP is a clear signal that cloud infrastructure itself is now a primary attack surface. This campaign does not rely on advanced exploits or stealthy zero-days; it succeeds by abusing trust, scale, and misconfiguration. As organizations continue to move workloads into the cloud, attackers are moving upstream — not to breach applications, but to own the infrastructure beneath them.
The lesson is simple but uncomfortable: in the cloud, exposure equals execution. And at internet scale, even small misconfigurations can power an entire criminal ecosystem.
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