# Earth Lusca

> As of 2026-09-15, Earth Lusca is a China-nexus threat actor tracked by Threadlinqs Intelligence across 4 threats spanning malware, campaign, vulnerability. Also known as Aquatic Panda, Houndstooth Typhoon, I-SOON, BRONZE UNIVERSITY. ATT&CK coverage spans 97 techniques across 15 tactics in 4 of 4 tracked threats. Most-observed techniques: T1140 (Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information), T1082 (System Information Discovery), T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application).

- **Nation:** China
- **Tracked threats:** 4
- **Categories:** MALWARE, CAMPAIGN, VULNERABILITY
- **Also known as:** Aquatic Panda, Houndstooth Typhoon, I-SOON, BRONZE UNIVERSITY, BountyGlad, CHROMIUM, Charcoal Typhoon, ControlX, FISHMONGER, Red Dev 10, Red Scylla, RedHotel
- **As of:** 2026-09-15

## ATT&CK techniques observed

97 techniques observed across 4 of 4 tracked threats. Tactics: Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) (18), Command and Control (13), Discovery (12), Execution (8), Initial Access (7), Persistence (7).

- [T1140](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1140) Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information — Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) — observed in 4 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1082](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1082) System Information Discovery — Discovery — observed in 3 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1190](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1190) Exploit Public-Facing Application — Initial Access — observed in 3 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1685](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1685) Disable or Modify Tools — Defense Impairment — observed in 3 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1014](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1014) Rootkit — Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1016](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1016) System Network Configuration Discovery — Discovery — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1027](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1027) Obfuscated Files or Information — Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1041](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1041) Exfiltration Over C2 Channel — Exfiltration — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1055](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1055) Process Injection — Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1059](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1059) Command and Scripting Interpreter — Execution — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1071.001](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1071.001) Web Protocols — Command and Control — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1083](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1083) File and Directory Discovery — Discovery — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1090](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1090) Proxy — Command and Control — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1105](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1105) Ingress Tool Transfer — Command and Control — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats
- [T1115](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1115) Clipboard Data — Collection — observed in 2 of 4 tracked threats

## Tracked threats

- [PeckBirdy JScript C2 Framework Hides China-Aligned APT Infrastructure Inside a Casino-Site Network (CVE-2020-16040)](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2527) — HIGH
- [ASEC June 2026 APT Trend Report: Nation-State Actors Pivot to Cloud/OAuth Abuse, MaaS, and Supply-Chain Compromise](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1287) — MEDIUM
- [Aquatic Panda (Earth Lusca) APT - Log4Shell Exploitation and Multi-Platform Backdoor Campaigns Targeting 17 Countries](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0986) — CRITICAL
- [FishMonger (I-SOON / Winnti) Ports SprySOCKS Backdoor to Windows — WIN_DRV (RawWNPF Kernel Rootkit) & WIN_PLUS Variants](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0884) — HIGH

## Related CVEs

4 CVEs referenced by tracked Earth Lusca activity.

- [CVE-2026-21509](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-21509)
- [CVE-2023-24932](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2023-24932)
- [CVE-2021-44228](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2021-44228)
- [CVE-2020-16040](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2020-16040)

## Full data

Infrastructure, IOC values and detection queries (Splunk SPL / Microsoft KQL / Sigma) require the Threadlinqs MCP server (Purple tier): https://intel.threadlinqs.com/mcp

Canonical: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Earth%20Lusca