Mustang Panda Uses Signed Kernel-Mode Rootkit to Load TONESHELL Backdoor

The Chinese hacking group known as Mustang Panda has leveraged a previously undocumented kernel-mode rootkit driver to deliver a new variant of backdoor dubbed TONESHELL in a cyber attack detected in mid-2025 targeting an unspecified entity in Asia. The findings come from Kaspersky, which observed the new backdoor variant in cyber espionage campaigns mounted by the hacking group targeting