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Interlock is a double-extortion ransomware operation active since at least late 2024. It steals data prior to encryption and operates a Tor-based leak site to pressure victims with both operational disruption and public exposure. Victims have included organizations in healthcare, education, government, manufacturing, engineering, construction, and other critical infrastructure and enterprise sectors across North America and Europe.
Interlock has targeted multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and virtualization environments such as VMware ESXi and FreeBSD-based systems. Reported intrusion chains show the group using more than one initial access path. A prominent method is ClickFix-style social engineering in which fake verification prompts induce users to execute commands, leading to malware deployment, credential harvesting, and subsequent lateral movement. Interlock has also been linked to exploitation of internet-facing enterprise infrastructure, including the critical Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vulnerability CVE-2026-20131, which enabled unauthenticated remote code execution.
Post-compromise activity attributed to Interlock includes extensive reconnaissance, credential theft, remote access tooling, proxying, and defense evasion. Observed tooling includes custom remote access trojans in JavaScript and Java, the NodeSnake backdoor family, NTLM credential-harvesting components, ConnectWise ScreenConnect for persistent remote access, and utilities such as Volatility and Certify. Reported capabilities include encrypted WebSocket command and control, shell access, file transfer, SOCKS proxying, self-update and self-delete functions, memory-resident backdoor behavior, log clearing, and scheduled-task persistence on Windows. Interlock operators have also used reverse-proxy infrastructure and redundant implants to preserve access during multi-stage intrusions.
Interlock ransomware binaries have been reported for both Windows and ELF-based environments. Public reporting consistently characterizes the operation as financially motivated and focused on double extortion through data theft and encryption, with mature post-exploitation tradecraft and cross-platform deployment.
Mallory pivots from this family to the IOCs, detections, and named campaigns that touch your stack, and pages you when something new lands.
4 CVEs Mallory has correlated with this family across public research and vendor advisories. Each row links to the full Mallory page for that vulnerability.
CVE-2026-20131 (CVSS 3.1 skóre 10.0) Kritická zraniteľnosť s označením CVE-2026-20131 spočíva v nezabezpečenej deserializácii používateľských vstupov. Vzdialený neautentifikovaný útočník by ju mohol zneužiť na vzdialené vykonanie kódu Java s oprávneniami používateľa root. Na to potrebuje poslať špeciálne vytvorený serializovaný objekt Java na webové manažmentové rozhranie zraniteľného zariadenia. [Aktualizácia 19.3.2026] Ransomvérová skupina Interlock aktívne zneužívala kritickú zero-day zraniteľnosť CVE-2026-20131 v softvéri Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center už od konca januára 2026, približne mesiac pred jej zverejnením a opravou.
PrintNightmare exploit (Interlock staging)
Local privilege escalation exploit CVE-2023-36036 (JunkFiction-crypted) ... CVE CVE-2023-36036 Local privilege escalation exploit used by Interlock and ModeloRAT operators
Interlock ... concealed ... through the custom Hotta Killer evasion tool, which harnesses a zero-day flaw in the legitimate gaming anti-cheat driver GameDriverx64.sys, tracked as CVE-2025-61155, as part of a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver attack. ... kernel termination of security software prior to encryption activities.
3 distinct threat actors attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
The Rhysida and Interlock groups, which are known to attack healthcare and other critical infrastructure, have similar TTPs and encryption binaries, leading to some speculation of a connection between the two groups.
Amazon’s threat intelligence teams have uncovered a new cyber campaign linked to the Interlock ransomware group... The recovered malware and artifacts were attributed to the Interlock ransomware family based on several consistent indicators.
The e-crime group is primarily associated with a wide range of malicious tools, including NodeSnake, Interlock RAT, JunkFiction loader, and Interlock ransomware.
30 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
The agencies said they are aware of Interlock encryptors designed for Windows and Linux operating systems and have observed cyber actors obtaining access using an uncommon method of drive-by download from compromised legitimate websites, among other tactics.
Amazon threat intelligence has identified an active Interlock ransomware campaign exploiting CVE-2026-20131, a critical vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary Java code as root on an affected device
The Java variant adds two features... The UpdateThread creates a self-deleting scheduled task... Like the Java variant, the PE uses self-deleting scheduled tasks... A daily scheduled task runs the ransomware at 20:00 as SYSTEM.
A PowerShell-based reconnaissance script systematically collects detailed system and network information, including installed software, running services, browser data, and active connections.
The campaign centers around a flaw affecting Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) software... It allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary Java code with root privileges on affected FMC devices... Interlock had already begun exploiting this flaw as early as January 26, 2026.
The Java variant adds two features... The UpdateThread creates a self-deleting scheduled task... Like the Java variant, the PE uses self-deleting scheduled tasks... A daily scheduled task runs the ransomware at 20:00 as SYSTEM.
The Java variant adds two features... The UpdateThread creates a self-deleting scheduled task... Like the Java variant, the PE uses self-deleting scheduled tasks... A daily scheduled task runs the ransomware at 20:00 as SYSTEM.
“Interlock ransomware deploys “Hotta Killer” exploiting ... driver zero-day (CVE-2025-61155) to disable EDR/AV...”
The Windows variant imports wevtapi.dll and calls EvtClearLog to wipe Windows event logs. This is the only variant in the toolkit that clears event logs.
DELETE 0x0c fs.rmSync(__filename)... If the counter passes 40, the implant deletes itself... self-deleting scheduled task... --delete (self-delete after encryption)
A PowerShell-based reconnaissance script systematically collects detailed system and network information... and active connections.
One variant, written in JavaScript... establish[es] encrypted communication with command-and-control servers via WebSockets.
Interlock employs a Bash script that converts compromised Linux servers into HTTP reverse proxies. These proxies forward traffic to attacker-controlled systems while erasing logs every five minutes.
This triggered the next phase of the attack, where Interlock issued commands to download and execute a malicious Linux binary.
Such activity is significant as it often indicates ransomware behavior, where files are encrypted and the originals are deleted.
62 indicators attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
IPs, domains, and DNS infrastructure linked to this family.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
Other indicator types observed in public reporting.
54 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A newer ransomware strain in 2025 with cross-platform targeting including Windows, Linux, and VMware ESXi environments.
A ransomware group/family highlighted as using multiple attack paths for initial access, including ClickFix-style social engineering that tricks users into executing commands which run malware, harvest credentials, and enable lateral movement.
Ransomware family/group discussed as an example of how modern ransomware operators gain initial access through ClickFix-style social engineering, execute credential-harvesting malware, and then move laterally through identity- and configuration-based attack paths rather than relying on exploitable CVEs at entry.
Ransomware family mentioned in connection with BitLaunch IPs in CTI reports.
Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.
Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.
CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.
Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.