CYBERDUDEBIVASH Top Tricks to Effectively Analyse a Rust-Based Malware

CYBERDUDEBIVASH Top Tricks to Effectively Analyse a Rust-Based Malware Edition 88 – February 15, 2026

Bivash Kumar Nayak – CyberDudeBivash Founder & CEO, CYBERDUDEBIVASH PVT LTD Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India bivash@cyberdudebivash.com https://www.cyberdudebivash.com © 2026 CyberDudeBivash Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

CyberDudeBivash Roars Rust malware is the new apex predator in 2026. Memory-safe, blazing fast, cross-platform, EDR-evading, and loved by ransomware crews (RustyRocket, VoidLink, World Leaks variants). Traditional reverse-engineering tricks that worked on C++ are now either useless or extremely painful.

This edition of ThreatWire gives you my battle-tested, real-world playbook — the exact 12-step methodology I use (and teach elite red teams & DFIR squads) to tear Rust malware apart without losing your mind.

No fluff. No theory. Just the sharpest, most efficient tricks that actually work in 2026.

1. Preparation – Build Your Rust-Aware Lab 

• Rust toolchain — install stable + nightly (nightly for better debug info) rustup toolchain install nightly
• cargo-binstall — fastest way to get radare2, ghidra-rust, feroxbuster, etc.
• Rust-specific plugins
  • Ghidra → Rust Demangler & Rust Analyzer (community plugins)
  • IDA Pro → Rust plugin by 0x00pf (2025 version)
  • Binary Ninja → Rust & cargo-binstall support
• Isolating Rust binaries — use strings | grep -i rust or file command to confirm Rust compilation
• Snapshot VM — always revert after analysis (Rust malware loves persistence via scheduled tasks & WMI)

2. Quick Triage – Is This Really Rust? (30 Seconds)

Run these one-liners in order:

file sample.exe               # Look for "Rust" or "compiled with rustc"
strings sample.exe | grep -i rustc    # Rust compiler strings
strings sample.exe | grep -Ei "panic|unwrap|expect|thread" | wc -l   # Rust panic/unwrap panic handlers

If you see >20–30 matches → almost certainly Rust.

3. Identify Panic Handlers & Entry Points (First 2–5 Minutes)

Rust binaries have very characteristic panic handlers:

• rust_panic / std::panicking::panic
• core::panicking::panic_fmt
• std::rt::lang_start (real main entry)

Use:

r2 -qc "afl~panic" sample.exe     # radare2 – list all panic-related functions

Jump to lang_start — that’s your Rust main().

4. De-Rust the Binary – Demangle & Recover Symbols 

Rust mangling is horrible. Use these tools:

• rustfilt (fastest demangler) cargo install rustfiltrustfilt _ZN3std9panicking11begin_panic17h... → clean name
• Ghidra Rust Demangler (plugin) – auto-renames most functions
• IDA Rust plugin (0x00pf) – recovers types & function names

After demangling you’ll see readable names like:

• main::main
• stealc::steal_browser_credentials
• ransomware::encrypt_files

5. Memory-Safe → Look for Unsafe Blocks 

Rust is memory-safe… except when it isn’t.

Hunt for unsafe blocks — that’s where the juicy stuff lives:

• Direct syscalls (NtCreateFile, NtWriteVirtualMemory)
• Raw pointer dereferences
• FFI calls to Windows API

In Ghidra/IDA:

• Search for unsafe keyword in decompiled Rust code
• Look for std::ptr::read/write or core::ptr::write_bytes
• Follow calls to winapi or windows-sys crates

6. Dynamic Analysis – Run It Safely (Never on Host)

Use:

• Flare VM or REMnux + snapshot
• Procmon + Wireshark — filter for Rust binary name
• Process Hacker — look for injected threads
• API Monitor — catch direct syscalls (Nt* functions)

Common Rust malware behaviours:

• Clipboard hijack (SetClipboardData)
• C2 over HTTPS/WebSocket (reqwest crate)
• In-memory execution (no disk drop)

7. String & Configuration Extraction 

Rust strings are often not null-terminated - use:

strings -n8 sample.exe | grep -Ei "http|\\.onion|api|token|wallet"

Common crates leave fingerprints:

• reqwest → HTTPS C2
• serde_json → config blobs
• tokio → async C2
• windows / winapi → Windows-specific calls

8. C2 & Exfil Detection (Network Focus)

Rust malware loves:

• Discord/Telegram as C2
• WebSocket over HTTPS
• Fast flux domains

Hunt:

• Wireshark → TLS 1.3 + unusual JA3 fingerprints
• netstat -ano | findstr ESTABLISHED during execution

9. Persistence Hunting (Rust Style)

Rust malware uses dynamic persistence:

• Scheduled tasks via schtasks.exe (obfuscated command line)
• Registry: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• WMI event subscriptions
• Service creation with Rust windows-service crate

Use Autoruns + PowerShell to hunt.

10. Advanced Tricks – My Secret Weapons

• Rust strings in memory - use Volatility malfind + strings plugin
• Obfuscated strings  - look for XOR/RC4 routines (Rust xor crate)
• Direct syscalls  - use SysWhispers3 Rust bindings detection
• Anti-debug  - IsDebuggerPresent, NtQueryInformationProcess, CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent in Rust wrappers

DM me “RUSTY HUNT” for my private:

• YARA rules for RustyRocket/VoidLink
• Sigma queries for Rust malware behavior
• Memory forensics checklist for Rust payloads

This is 2026: malware isn’t C++ anymore - it’s Rust, Go, Nim. Traditional tools are dying. Stay ahead or become the next victim.

CYBERDUDEBIVASH PVT LTD Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India bivash@cyberdudebivash.com https://www.cyberdudebivash.com © 2026 CyberDudeBivash Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

#RustMalware #EDRBypass #Ransomware2026 #CyberDudeBivash #GodModeCyber #ThreatIntel #MalwareAnalysis #ReverseEngineering #CyberSecurityIndia