SnakeStealer vs. legacy infostealers: What enterprise defenders need to know in 2025

SnakeStealer dethrones Agent Tesla in 2025. Learn how it works, why it’s rising, and what this means for enterprise credential theft defense strategies.

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Why has SnakeStealer overtaken Agent Tesla as the most detected infostealer in 2025 malware telemetry?

ESET’s H1 2025 Threat Report confirms a major shift in the credential theft landscape. SnakeStealer—also known as Snake Keylogger—has now become the most commonly detected infostealer globally, surpassing legacy tools such as Agent Tesla and RedLine Stealer. This change reflects evolving malware capabilities, simplified delivery methods, and shifting attacker preferences across malware-as-a-service ecosystems.

Unlike Agent Tesla, which had dominated the infostealer category for several years, SnakeStealer offers a more modular and evasive architecture. The malware can log keystrokes, steal browser and application credentials, capture clipboard data, and take screenshots, giving attackers access to a full behavioral snapshot of their victims. Its compact payload, regular updates, and compatibility with low-friction delivery chains like ClickFix have made it the infostealer of choice for threat actors in 2025.

Security researchers note that Agent Tesla has become increasingly detectable by endpoint security tools, with static signature-based detection improving in early 2024. This has pushed attackers toward SnakeStealer, which is not only more stealthy but also easier to integrate into layered attack chains.

Visual representation of SnakeStealer’s capabilities—keystroke logging, clipboard scraping, and credential theft—now surpassing legacy infostealers in enterprise risk.
Visual representation of SnakeStealer’s capabilities—keystroke logging, clipboard scraping, and credential theft—now surpassing legacy infostealers in enterprise risk.

What are the core capabilities of SnakeStealer and how do they differ from older tools like RedLine and Raccoon?

SnakeStealer is engineered to collect extensive real-time user data across infected endpoints. One of its primary capabilities is keystroke logging, which captures every typed input including usernames, passwords, and personal messages, enabling attackers to reconstruct a user’s activity timeline. In addition, the malware performs clipboard scraping, allowing it to steal copied data such as passwords, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and other sensitive information that users may briefly store in their clipboard during tasks like logins or transactions.

Another key function is screenshot capture, which silently takes snapshots of the victim’s screen at regular intervals or during specific actions. This enables attackers to view open applications, documents, or communications in real time. SnakeStealer also focuses on browser credential extraction, pulling saved login data from popular browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Chromium-based alternatives. Finally, it conducts system fingerprinting, compiling detailed information about the infected machine such as hardware specifications, operating system details, usernames, and installed software. This allows attackers to tailor follow-on payloads or filter high-value targets from broader campaigns.

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While RedLine Stealer gained notoriety for its robust data exfiltration capabilities in 2021–2023, it has fallen behind in obfuscation and persistence techniques. Similarly, Raccoon Stealer—another popular tool until its temporary suspension—has not regained ground in telemetry trends.

SnakeStealer’s updated architecture is modular, allowing cybercriminals to enable or disable specific features depending on the campaign. This level of customization, combined with lightweight deployment and fast updates, makes it more versatile than its predecessors.

How is SnakeStealer typically delivered in 2025, and what role does ClickFix play in spreading it across platforms?

While traditional delivery methods such as malicious email attachments and phishing pages are still in use, 2025 has seen a significant rise in behavioral attack chains. Chief among these is ClickFix—a fake error prompt that tricks users into executing terminal commands on their own systems. Once the command is pasted, SnakeStealer or a loader drops onto the device, bypassing most antivirus defenses due to the user’s direct involvement.

ESET’s report highlights that ClickFix has become the second most common attack vector globally, and SnakeStealer is one of its most frequent payloads. The combination is potent: ClickFix gains initial access without triggering alerts, and SnakeStealer immediately begins harvesting sensitive data in the background.

Institutional defenders have found this chain difficult to block at the initial access level, especially in BYOD or remote work environments where behavioral monitoring is limited. In many cases, by the time SnakeStealer is detected, significant credential leakage has already occurred.

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Why is SnakeStealer particularly dangerous for enterprise environments and identity management systems?

Enterprise environments are prime targets for SnakeStealer because of the high density of sensitive credentials, internal application logins, and privileged user sessions. Once installed on an endpoint, SnakeStealer can compromise not just personal logins, but also session tokens for cloud platforms, internal tools, and single sign-on (SSO) dashboards.

Analysts note that SnakeStealer’s ability to capture real-time screenshots adds a layer of risk, enabling attackers to visually map out workflows, interface structures, or obtain snapshots of sensitive communications. When combined with clipboard scraping, this can expose password managers, API keys, or 2FA reset codes copied during routine tasks.

In cases where privileged IT or DevOps users are compromised, SnakeStealer can provide attackers with elevated access paths into cloud consoles, source code repositories, and infrastructure-as-code platforms. This makes it a stepping stone for broader lateral movement, privilege escalation, or even ransomware deployment.

How are security vendors and SOCs adjusting their defenses to counter SnakeStealer and similar threats?

Traditional antivirus and firewall solutions are proving insufficient to detect SnakeStealer at an early stage, particularly when delivered through user-executed vectors like ClickFix. In response, enterprise security operations centers (SOCs) are shifting toward behavior-based analytics, endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, and isolation strategies for high-privilege users.

Institutional sentiment suggests that detecting keyboard hooks, unexpected screen capture processes, and clipboard API calls are now key indicators of SnakeStealer activity. However, threat actors are actively modifying the malware to delay these functions until sandbox evasion is successful.

Security awareness training is also undergoing revision. Instead of focusing solely on phishing links and malicious files, organizations are now educating users about suspicious command-line activity, fake update prompts, and unsolicited system messages.

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Cybersecurity providers are racing to update their detection rules and machine learning models to track SnakeStealer’s evolving signatures. Some vendors are integrating heuristics for specific command-line behavior, such as PowerShell executions followed by outbound network connections, to catch these stealthy infections in action.

What is the outlook for SnakeStealer in the second half of 2025, and could it be replaced by newer malware variants?

Given its current dominance in telemetry data and adoption among cybercriminals, SnakeStealer is expected to remain a top-tier infostealer throughout H2 2025. However, its success may also make it a target for disruption by law enforcement or cybersecurity alliances, particularly if its command-and-control infrastructure becomes traceable.

Security researchers are closely monitoring emerging infostealers that build upon SnakeStealer’s foundation while adding encrypted communications, better persistence, or AI-driven evasion. As attackers push for stealthier, modular, and cross-platform tools, competition in the infostealer market is likely to increase.

For defenders, the next six months will be critical. Companies must prioritize zero-trust architectures, credential vaulting, and session anomaly detection to limit the impact of successful infections. Analysts warn that waiting for a regulatory mandate or post-breach forensics may be too late in a landscape where malware like SnakeStealer exfiltrates credentials within seconds of installation.


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