AI-Powered CARBONATO Botnet Steals Credentials to Fund Its Own LLM Gateway
CARBONATO hijacks exposed Docker hosts, installs an AI agent, and steals LLM API keys to fund its gateway.
ThreatDown uncovered the CARBONATO Docker botnet after an internet-exposed container registry leaked its toolchain, including 59 repositories and 4.3 GB of images gathered in one day. Active since at least October 2024, it finds Docker daemons accepting unauthenticated connections on port 2375, starts a privileged container, and opens a reverse SSH tunnel to a relay in Costa Rica while reporting over Telegram. Persistence uses cron, systemd, rc.local, and OpenRC, with the container masquerading as systemd-resolved. It then installs Nous Research’s unmodified Hermes Agent, overwrites SOUL.md so the GH0ST persona prioritizes stealing API keys from 14 LLM providers, and uses those keys to fund its own gateway while worming to other exposed hosts.
- Active since at least October 2024; ThreatDown found an exposed attacker registry.
- Initial access uses unauthenticated Docker API on port 2375 via a privileged container.
- Unmodified Hermes Agent is steered by a 39-line SOUL.md prompt named GH0ST.
- Stolen API keys from 14 LLM providers fund the operators’ own gateway.
- Every five minutes it scans adjacent /24 networks for more exposed Docker daemons.
- ATT&CK
- T1190 Exploit Public-Facing ApplicationT1572 Protocol TunnelingT1528 Steal Application Access TokenT1053.003 Scheduled Task/Job: CronT1046 Network Service Discovery
- Vendors
- Docker
- Products
- DockerHermes Agent
- Organizations
- ThreatDownNous Research
- Countries
- Costa Rica
From the original article
5 min read at securityaffairs.com
CARBONATO exploits exposed Docker daemons, installs an AI agent, steals API keys and spreads across networks with autonomous command execution. CARBONATO is a Docker-based botnet that has been active since at least October 2024. ThreatDown discovered the operation after finding an unauthenticated container registry exposed to the internet.
By Pierluigi Paganini · securityaffairs.com
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