# PhishDestroy threat dossier — exploit-kerneldao.com ================================================================ Fetched: 2026-04-21 14:08:36 UTC Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/exploit-kerneldao.com/ ## VERDICT ---------------------------------------------------------------- CRITICAL THREAT — DO NOT VISIT Composite threat score: 86/100 (PhishDestroy scoring — see methodology below) Scam classification: Impersonation Targeted brand: Ethereum ## DETECTION EVIDENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------- VirusTotal: 1/94 security vendors flagged this domain URLQuery: 1 detections ## INFRASTRUCTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------- IP address: 188.114.97.3 (CA, Toronto) ASN: AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. Hosting org: CloudFlare, Inc. Registrar: NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED !!! REGISTRAR INTEGRITY ALERT — NiceNIC !!! NiceNIC International: over 90% of its registered domains are associated with illegal content; documented systematic abuse-report non-response. Primary sources: https://phishdestroy.io/nicenic-real https://phishdestroy.io/nicenic-verdict Nameservers: edna.ns.cloudflare.com, kevin.ns.cloudflare.com Registered: 2026-04-20 Page title: KernelDAO – Earn Rewards on Ethereum, BTC & BNB | Kelp, Gain & Kernel HTTP response: 200 ## TLS CERTIFICATE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Issuer: Let's Encrypt / E7 Expires: 2026-07-19 Status: INVALID chain Fingerprint: 91f32f86ca7312109b208f14043fd4ef51fcf589f7aceafeb37fef43683b318b ## ABUSE-REPORT HISTORY (evidence of registrar non-response) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Status: pending notification queue. No abuse reports filed yet — this domain is waiting for the next cycle of our automated abuse-reporter. ## TIMELINE ---------------------------------------------------------------- Domain registered: 2026-04-20 (per WHOIS / CT — may reflect a renewal or transfer date, not first-ever registration) First detected: 2026-04-20 23:38:13 UTC (by PhishDestroy tracker) First reported: 2026-04-20 20:40:22 UTC (abuse notice filed) Last verified: 2026-04-21 16:09:06 UTC Current status: ACTIVE / observable ## EXTERNAL CORROBORATION (third-party evidence) ---------------------------------------------------------------- URLScan.io: https://urlscan.io/result/019dac9c-a92d-7321-a25c-c796ff0144ef/ URLQuery: https://urlquery.net/report/6862bd5a-8b7f-4f6b-9c86-8e409fc37e62 Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/exploit-kerneldao.com crt.sh CT logs: https://crt.sh/?q=%25.exploit-kerneldao.com Google transparency: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?url=exploit-kerneldao.com AlienVault OTX: https://otx.alienvault.com/indicator/domain/exploit-kerneldao.com URLhaus: https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/host/exploit-kerneldao.com/ ## ANALYST NARRATIVE ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Generated: 2026-04-20 23:39:14 UTC — narrative may predate facts above. Treat fields in TIMELINE / DETECTION EVIDENCE / INFRASTRUCTURE as authoritative if they differ from the prose below.] PhishDestroy identifies exploit-kerneldao.com as an active malicious domain distributing counterfeit KernelDAO software under the guise of legitimate system updates. The domain is currently under investigation as a generic phishing threat vector targeting users seeking KernelDAO utilities or updates. This domain is flagged as active and poses a credible risk to unsuspecting users who may be directed to it via phishing emails, social media, or malicious advertisements. This domain was flagged by 0 of 95 VirusTotal vendors as of analysis completion, indicating a low current detection rate despite its malicious intent. It was registered through NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED, resolves to IP address 188.114.97.3, and was created on April 20, 2026. The domain utilizes a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, which may lend an air of legitimacy to unsuspecting visitors. It has not yet been widely blocklisted, emphasizing the need for proactive user awareness and network-level blocking. The current status of exploit-kerneldao.com remains active, and users are strongly advised to avoid accessing or downloading any software from this domain. Organizations and individuals should immediately block the domain at the network level and update endpoint protection rules to include the IP address 188.114.97.3 and the domain itself. Users who may have interacted with this domain or downloaded files should run a full antivirus scan, revoke any granted permissions, and monitor for anomalous system behavior. Report any related incidents to your IT security team or relevant cybersecurity authority. [Updates since narrative was generated:] - VirusTotal detections: now 1/94 (narrative was written when count was lower) ## EVIDENCE HASHES ---------------------------------------------------------------- PhishDestroy Case ID: PD-20260420-8A26C5 Favicon MD5: d50b64360bd3a9502cca31818b3b7127 TLS cert SHA-256: 91f32f86ca7312109b208f14043fd4ef51fcf589f7aceafeb37fef43683b318b ## SCORING METHODOLOGY ---------------------------------------------------------------- Composite score is NOT derived from VirusTotal alone. PhishDestroy aggregates: - VirusTotal positive ratio - Public blocklist consensus (MetaMask, ScamSniffer, OpenPhish, PhishTank, URLhaus, CryptoFirewall, SEAL, Polkadot, Enkrypt, Phishunt, DiscordPhishing, PhishingDB) - Cloaking detection (HTTP 666 or rendering delta between bot and real visitor) - DNS-filter consensus (Quad9, CleanBrowsing, NextDNS, AdGuard, Cloudflare, etc.) - AlienVault OTX pulses + Cloudflare Radar + Google Safe Browsing - URLScan / URLQuery verdicts - Brand-impersonation heuristics (DOM analysis of forms, logos, wording) - Known phishing-kit fingerprinting (favicon hash, JS obfuscation signatures) - Wallet-drainer family classification (Angel, MS, Rainbow, Pink, Inferno, ...) - Free-TLS vs paid-cert ratio (throwaway infrastructure signal) - Registrar/hosting abuse history (this registrar's track record) - Human researcher sign-off (volunteer takedown team) A domain present in our database is ALREADY flagged. A low VT count by itself does NOT mean the domain is safe — new scam domains routinely show 0/95 VT for their first 7–30 days while actively draining wallets. Always cross-reference the composite score and the individual indicators above, not just VT. ## CORRECTIONS / APPEALS ---------------------------------------------------------------- Full HTML report: https://phishdestroy.io/domain/exploit-kerneldao.com/ JSON API: https://api.destroy.tools/v1/check?domain=exploit-kerneldao.com Appeal a flag: https://phishdestroy.io/appeals/ (responded to within 48 hours, FP rate <0.01%) Submit a report: https://t.me/PhishDestroy_bot About PhishDestroy: volunteer-driven open-source threat-intelligence platform. Tracked: 131,000+ phishing domains. Confirmed takedowns: 91,000+. Site: https://phishdestroy.io