Akamai Technologies is alerting enterprises to a high-risk threat of IptabLes and IptabLex infections on Linux systems. Malicious actors may use infected Linux systems to launch DDoS attacks against the entertainment industry and other verticals.

The mass infestation of IptabLes and IptabLex seems to have been driven by a large number of Linux-based web servers being compromised, mainly by exploits of Apache Struts, Tomcat and Elasticsearch vulnerabilities.

Attackers have used the Linux vulnerabilities on unmaintained servers to gain access, escalate privileges to allow remote control of the machine, and then drop malicious code into the system and run it. As a result, a system could then be controlled remotely as part of a DDoS botnet.

A post-infection indication is a payload named .IptabLes or. IptabLex located in the /boot directory. These script files run the .IptabLes binary on reboot.

The malware also contains a self-updating feature that causes the infected system to contact a remote host to download a file. In the lab environment, an infected system attempted to contact two IP addresses located in Asia.

“We have traced one of the most significant DDoS attack campaigns of 2014 to infection by IptabLes and IptabLex malware on Linux systems,” said Stuart Scholly, senior VP and GM, Security Business Unit, Akamai.

“This is a significant cybersecurity development because the Linux operating system has not typically been used in DDoS botnets. Malicious actors have taken advantage of known vulnerabilities in unpatched Linux software to launch DDoS attacks. Linux admins need to know about this threat to take action to protect their servers,” Scholly added.

Asia apparently a significant source of DDoS attacks

Command and control centers (C2, CC) for IptabLes and IptabLex are currently located in Asia. Infected systems were initially known to be in Asia; however, more recently many infections were observed on servers hosted in the U.S. and in other regions.

In the past, most DDoS bot infections originated from Russia, but now Asia appears to be a significant source of DDoS development.

The complete advisory is available here (registration required).