Threat Intelligence & APT SecurityWeek 2 weeks ago

Hackers Use ChatGPT Custom GPTs in ClickFix Attacks

CN
CyberNew Threat Research Desk
• Original Reporting: SecurityWeek
CyberNew Threat Intel Assessment
Assessed Severity: MEDIUM
Impacted Surface
Enterprise Perimeter & Network Defense
Intelligence Sector
Threat Intelligence & APT

Analyst Takeaway

"A newly discovered ClickFix campaign is relying on ChatGPT Custom GPTs to impersonate legitimate products and lure victims into executing malicious code on their machines. Custom GPTs are personalized versions of ChatGPT that may include specific instructions and tools. They are hosted on ChatGPT.com, and their pages feature their custom names at the top, along with the builder’s profile. As part..."

Recommended Defense & Mitigation

  • Threat Monitoring: Ingest published IOCs into SIEM/EDR detection rules for continuous telemetry monitoring.
  • Security Awareness: Alert staff and maintain baseline endpoint hardening across endpoints.
Curated & Verified by CyberNew Threat Intelligence Desk Standard Defense Framework (NIST / MITRE ATT&CK)
ChatGPT vulnerability

A newly discovered ClickFix campaign is relying on ChatGPT Custom GPTs to impersonate legitimate products and lure victims into executing malicious code on their machines.

Custom GPTs are personalized versions of ChatGPT that may include specific instructions and tools. They are hosted on ChatGPT.com, and their pages feature their custom names at the top, along with the builder’s profile.

As part of the malicious campaign, a threat actor programmed two Custom GPTs to respond to users’ prompts with a Google Sites link leading to a ClickFix page, cybersecurity firm Huntress reports.

On this page, visitors were instructed to execute PowerShell commands that downloaded a malicious MSI file as part of a multi-stage infection chain.

According to Huntress, at least 40 users have been infected as part of the campaign, and at least two of the incidents are connected to a Custom GPT instance. OpenAI took down the Custom GPT on September 25, but a second one was discovered on September 27.

“Threat actors are finding success in this specific abuse of Custom GPTs for social engineering and are continuing to rely on this technique,” Huntress notes.

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The victims accessed the Custom GPT after searching for ChatGPT on Google and being served the page as a sponsored result at the top of the search results.

To trick the victims, the attackers titled the Custom GPT “Plus 5.6” and claimed it was from a “community builder”. The user received a fake notice claiming limited availability through the primary domain and requesting an upgrade or use of the service through a backup domain.

Written By Ionut Arghire

Source Verification & Original Intelligence

This threat report was reviewed by CyberNew analysts and cross-referenced with primary security disclosures from SecurityWeek.

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