Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Ryan C Salsamendi

Robert A Seger

Wei Xu

Chien-Hua Lu

A set of virtual machines (VMs) with different guest operating systems installed is initially booted and prepared to facilitate rapid creation, or 'forking,' of a child VM(s) for malware analysis of a software sample. Because malicious code may be packaged for a specific operating system version, subsets of the VMs may have different versions of the same guest operating system installed. Upon detection of a sample indicated for malware analysis, a child VM(s) running the appropriate guest operating system is created based on a corresponding one(s) of the set of VMs. A process in which the corresponding VM(s) has been booted is forked to create a child process. A child VM which is a copy of the VM booted in the parent process is then created in the child process. The sample is then sandboxed in the child VM for analysis to determine if the sample comprises malware.

Malware analysis through virtual machine forking

Generating a set of attempted external contacts associated with a malware sample is disclosed. A malware sample is executed in an accelerated computing environment. In the accelerated computing environment, a guest time is advanced more quickly than a time by which a host time is advanced. A set of one or more attempted external contacts generated by the executing malware sample is recorded. The set of attempted external contacts includes at least one generated domain name. A remedial action is taken with respect to the generated domain name.

Collecting algorithmically generated domains

Generating a set of attempted external contacts associated with a malware sample is disclosed. A malware sample is executed, in an accelerated computing environment. In the accelerated computing environment, a guest time is advanced more quickly than a time by which a host time is advanced. A set of one or more attempted external contacts generated by the executing malware sample is recorded. The set of attempted external contacts is provided as output.

Techniques for automatic repair of corrupt files (e.g., malware sample files) for a detonation engine are disclosed. In some embodiments, a system, process, and/or computer program for automatic repair of corrupt files for a detonation engine includes receiving a malware sample from a network device; determining whether the malware sample includes a corrupt file; and in an event that the malware sample is determined to include the corrupt file, repairing the corrupt file for the detonation engine.

Automatic repair of corrupt files for a detonation engine

Detecting duplicate malware samples is disclosed. A first guest clock is set to a first value in a first virtual machine instance. A first malware sample is executed in the first virtual machine instance. A second guest clock value is set to the first value in a second virtual machine instance. A second malware sample is executed in the second virtual machine instance. A determination is made as to whether the first malware sample and the second malware sample are the same, based at least in part on performing a comparison of attempted external contacts generated by executing each of the respective first and second malware samples.

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Campbell, CA, United States of America

Ryan C Salsamendi