I think I've got some malware

Hi,

A few months ago, AVG detected a virus. I thought at the time that that was the end of it, but since then, I've become more and more convinced that I actually have something that AVG hasn't cleaned out (despite numerous scans). Upon talking to some friends, I stumbled upon here, and I'm hoping you can help.

AVG/Spybot don't find anything, but I'm pretty sure there's something in my system. Currently, after having just restarted, my memory usage is sitting at approximately 80% (2 gigs of RAM), despite no other programs being open except for FireFox to type this. This percentage will vary wildly from 33% RAM usage with nothing open to up around 75%-80% even if nothing is open. Task Manager shows nothing larger than firefox open, and there's nothing apparently suspicious about the other processes. Start up also takes a long time (2-3 minutes), and shut down can take an equal time, if not longer, despite having nothing open at the time. My processors also will randomly kick up to close to 100% with no programs running. I'm not POSITIVE its malware, but if it is I'd like to get rid of it.

I've run your initial removal programs suggested in the stickies, and I'm attaching all the logs I can. RootRepeal would not open for me, but generated some crash logs which I'll attach in the second post. They don't say much, but I'm sending them regardless. ComboFix did find something, and had me restart when it cleaned it, but the problem still initially appears to be here after restart so I figured I'd put the logs up here as well.

Thanks for your help.

 

And my RootRepeal crash logs. I tried downloading it twice with the same results, so I'm not entirely sure what's up with it, unfortunately. Thanks again for the help!

 

Hi and welcome to Major Geeks, Mark726!

I think most of the issues you are experiencing are software related. You have many non-malware related processes running in the background and starting automatically when you turn on your PC. However, I did find a couple of things that need fixing so let's get started.

Now we need to make use of ComboFix by sUBs

• Make sure that ComboFix.exe that you downloaded while doing the READ & RUN ME is on your desktop but do not run it!
  • If it is not on your desktop, the below will not work.
• Shut down all protection software (antivirus, antispyware...etc) or they may get in the way of allowing ComboFix to run properly.
• Open Notepad and copy/paste the text in the below code box into Notepad:

Code:

KillAll::
File::
C:\Windows\jgzr.dat
Folder::
C:\$AVG
DirLook::
C:\$WINDOWS.~Q
C:\ProgramData\Gibraltar
C:\ProgramData\{DF6E6A21-48E9-4FBD-B0B2-9E838A1DFED0}
FileLook::
c:\windows\System32\Drivers\sptd.sys
Registry::
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{7E853D72-626A-48EC-A868-BA8D5E23E045}]
RegLock::
[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-125100448-1949779040-2578488765-1005\Software\SecuROM\License information*]
"datasecu"=hex:6a,8f,0d,cf,9b,f9,9a,f8,3c,09,5d,f6,c4,34,f0,2e,18,ed,7e,78,2c,
   22,4d,18,92,d9,5d,5b,f0,fd,d5,8d,e7,98,07,32,fb,3e,02,8a,38,8f,4d,da,f0,a0,\
"rkeysecu"=hex:0e,24,ff,08,4e,cd,13,e6,a9,1a,4c,16,cd,d6,e0,42
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E96D-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000\AllUserSettings]
@Denied: (A) (Users)
@Denied: (A) (Everyone)
@Allowed: (B 1 2 3 4 5) (S-1-5-20)
"BlindDial"=dword:00000000
.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\PCW\Security]
@Denied: (Full) (Everyone)

• Save the above as CFScript.txt and make sure you save it to the same location (should be on your desktop) as ComboFix.exe
• At this point, you must exit all browsers now before continuing!
• You should have both the ComboFix.exe and CFScript.txt icons on your desktop.
• Now use your mouse to drag CFScript.txt on top of ComboFix.exe.
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/sUBs/CFScriptB-4.gif
• This shall launch ComboFix.
  Note: Do not mouse-click ComboFix's window while it is running. That may cause it to stall.
• Allow ComboFix to update itself if prompted.
• When it finishes, a log will be produced at C:\ComboFix.txt
  Note: If after running ComboFix you discover none of your programs will open up because you receive the following error: Illegal operation attempted on a registry key that has been marked for deletion then you will need to reboot your computer which will normally fix this problem.
• Attach this log to your next message. (How to attach items to your post)

Now we need to run TDSSKiller by Kaspersky
Follow the instructions here and attach your log when you are finished. (How to attach items to your post)


Please download MBRCheck by GeeksToGo to your desktop.
See the download links under this icon http://forums.majorgeeks.com/chaslang/images/MGDownloadLoc.gif

• Double click MBRCheck.exe to run (Vista and Win7 right click and select Run as Administrator)
• It will show a Black screen with some information that will contain either the below line if no problem is found:
  • Done! Press ENTER to exit...
• Or you will see more information like below if a problem is found:
  • Found non-standard or infected MBR.
  • Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:
• Either way, just choose to exit the program at this point since we want to see only the scan results to begin with.
• MBRCheck will create a log named similar to MBRCheck_07.16.10_00.32.33.txt which is random based on date and time.
• Attach this log to your next message. (How to attach items to your post)

Now run C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat by double-clicking it (Vista and Win7 right-click and select Run as Administrator)
Then attach C:\MGlogs.zip to your next message. (How to attach items to your post)
Notes:

• This will automatically update all the logs inside MGlogs.zip
• Make sure you click Accept on the License Agreement from Trend Micro HiJackThis - v2.0.4 twice if prompted.

LET ME KNOW HOW THE PC IS RUNNING AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THESE STEPS​

 

Hi thisisu, first off, thanks for the quick response, it's much appreciated And I'm glad to hear its probably not malware!

I ran the tests you asked. I should point out that during me running ComboFix, PEV.exe quit on me and put up an error message, but ComboFix kept running (and restarted my PC), so I'm not sure if I need to worry about it at all.

The computer seems to be running a bit faster, though there's still something eating up memory after I restart it. It drops over time, but it takes a while.

Anyway, my logs are posted below. Thanks again for the quick feedback.

 

YOU MAY HAVE AN INFECTED MASTER BOOT RECORD (MBR)!​

_________________________________________________________________​

WARNING​

MBR infections are only worsening and sometimes (rarely) make the computer unbootable after attempting to correct it. We recommend that you back up your data before hand. Then continue with the below if you wish to attempt to remove this infection:
_________________________________________________________________​

Do you have your Windows 7 DVD? We need it to restore a clean MBR.
If you do not have your Windows 7 DVD, you can create one with the Recovery Console (which is really all we need), here: Download Windows 7 32-bit (x86) Recovery Disc

1. Insert the DVD (we need to boot from it)
2. Reboot your computer
3. At the IBM Lenovo splash screen, press F12
4. This should take you to the Boot Menu
5. Select CD/DVD Rom from the selection by using the Down / up arrows.
6. Press ENTER after you have selected the CD/DVD Rom drive.
7. You'll hear the DVD spinning up, be ready to press ANY key when you see the following message:

http://www.bleepstatic.com/tutorials/vista-repair-options/boot-from-cd-prompt.jpg

• This takes a while to load (30-45 seconds)
• When the below screen appears:

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/25672d1251414873-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record-mbr_02.png

• Select your language and click Next.

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/25673d1251414836-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record-mbr_03.png

• Click the button for "Use recovery tools".

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/25674d1251414836-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record-mbr_04.png

• Then select "Command Prompt".

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/25675d1251414836-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record-mbr_05.png

• When open, the command prompt will look like this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/53598d1251414836-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record-mbr_16.png

• Type in bootrec /fixmbr and press ENTER
  Note: There is only a SPACE after bootrec
• You should see:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4114/operationcompletedsucce.png

• Type exit and press ENTER
• Now restart your computer WITHOUT booting off the DVD again (don't press a key when it says... "press any key to boot from cd/dvd...")

Now rerun MBRCheck and attach its latest log. (How to attach items to your post)

Let me know how things are running now!

 

You should not be installing anything unless requested while we are focusing on removing malware.

I see you are now running with 3 Antivirus programs and 2 Firewalls (not good!) -- Refer back to Step #2 here: READ & RUN ME FIRST

Please only choose one to keep, and then uninstall the others.

 

I'll admit that I swapped from AVG to Avast, and added Comodo firewall, sorry about that, didn't realize I shouldn't be switching in the middle of this. What was the third antivirus and the other firewall though? I used the windows firewall up until now, and I haven't had another one on this machine to my knowledge, and I only used AVG before swapping over. I'll get those deleted before I move on. To be on the safe side, should I just remove everything for now and start install things once things clear up?

Also, I have a Win7 upgrade disk (the machine used to run vista when first bought). Will this suffice for the win7 dvd, or should I use the recovery disk you provide?

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Yes.

The DVD you have should suffice.

 

Ok, the MBR fix seems to have gone well. Bootup definitely seems faster to me, but I'm still having some issues with the mystery RAM usage. It's sitting at 66% right now with just Firefox open (especially now with no antivirus/firewall). I've posted the MBR log below, which apparently checks out. Thanks again for all the help so far.

 

Looks good, can you get me a new MGlogs.zip by running C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat

Then attach this new MGlogs.zip to your next message.

 

Sure, here it is.

 

As I was saying earlier, I believe most of your problems are due to the amount of programs you have on start-up. They are not malware related, but can still bog down the system if you have as many of them running as you do. However I did find some more malware (not much though).

Now we need to make use of ComboFix by sUBs

• Make sure that ComboFix.exe that you downloaded while doing the READ & RUN ME is on your desktop but do not run it!
  • If it is not on your desktop, the below will not work.
• Shut down all protection software (antivirus, antispyware...etc) or they may get in the way of allowing ComboFix to run properly.
• Open Notepad and copy/paste the text in the below code box into Notepad:
  Note: I am including cleaning up some of the remnants of Avast and AVG2012 (not malware)

Code:

KillAll::
File::
C:\Users\Mark\AppData\Local\msesbucf.txt
C:\Windows\temp\WER256B.tmp.hdmp
C:\Windows\temp\WER254B.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSIA3EE.TMP
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI99DF.TMP
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI9913.TMP
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI79A6B.LOG
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI475D.TMP
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI332E3.LOG
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI3208.TMP
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\MSI2D94.TMP
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\AXENTR~1.TXT
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\CISE10B.EXE
Folder::
C:\Users\Mark\AppData\Roaming\AVG2012
C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software
C:\ProgramData\AVG2012
C:\$WINDOWS.~Q
c:\programdata\{DF6E6A21-48E9-4FBD-B0B2-9E838A1DFED0}
C:\Program Files\AVAST Software
C:\Windows\temp\_avast_
C:\USERS\MARK\LOCALS~1\TEMP\_AVAST_
DirLook::
C:\MinGW
c:\WAUUPGRD
Registry::
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{3CA2F312-6F6E-4B53-A66E-4E65E497C8C0}]
RegLock::
[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-125100448-1949779040-2578488765-1005\Software\SecuROM\License information*]
"datasecu"=hex:6a,8f,0d,cf,9b,f9,9a,f8,3c,09,5d,f6,c4,34,f0,2e,18,ed,7e,78,2c,
   22,4d,18,92,d9,5d,5b,f0,fd,d5,8d,e7,98,07,32,fb,3e,02,8a,38,8f,4d,da,f0,a0,\
"rkeysecu"=hex:0e,24,ff,08,4e,cd,13,e6,a9,1a,4c,16,cd,d6,e0,42

• Save the above as CFScript.txt and make sure you save it to the same location (should be on your desktop) as ComboFix.exe
• At this point, you must exit all browsers now before continuing!
• You should have both the ComboFix.exe and CFScript.txt icons on your desktop.
• Now use your mouse to drag CFScript.txt on top of ComboFix.exe.
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/sUBs/CFScriptB-4.gif
• This shall launch ComboFix.
  Note: Do not mouse-click ComboFix's window while it is running. That may cause it to stall.
• Allow ComboFix to update itself if prompted.
• When it finishes, a log will be produced at C:\ComboFix.txt
  Note: If after running ComboFix you discover none of your programs will open up because you receive the following error: Illegal operation attempted on a registry key that has been marked for deletion then you will need to reboot your computer which will normally fix this problem.
• Attach this log to your next message. (How to attach items to your post)

Now run C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat by double-clicking it (Vista and Win7 right-click and select Run as Administrator)
Then attach C:\MGlogs.zip to your next message. (How to attach items to your post)
Notes:

• This will automatically update all the logs inside MGlogs.zip
• Make sure you click Accept on the License Agreement from Trend Micro HiJackThis - v2.0.4 twice if prompted.

LET ME KNOW HOW THE PC IS RUNNING AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THESE STEPS​

 

Fair enough, I'll go through my start up programs and see what I can trim. It definitely seemed to start up quicker this time around, I will say that. Thanks for all the work so far, and hopefully this will be the end of it!

 

You're welcome. Your latest logs are clean.

If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:

1. We recommend you keep SUPERAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for scanning/removal of malware. Unless you purchase them, they provide no protection. They do not use any significant amount of resources ( except a little disk space ) until you run a scan.
2. If we had you use ComboFix, uninstall ComboFix (This uninstall will only work as written if you installed ComboFix on your Desktop like we requested.)
   • Click START then RUN and enter the below into the run box and then click OK. Note the quotes are required
   • "%userprofile%\Desktop\combofix" /uninstall
     • Notes: The space between the combofix" and the /uninstall, it must be there.
     • This will uninstall ComboFix and also reset hidden files and folders settings back to Windows defaults.
3. Go back to step 6 oof the READ ME and renable your Disk Emulation software with Defogger if you had disabled it.
4. Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.
5. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others), you can delete these files now.
6. If running Vista, it is time to make sure you have reenabled UAC by double clicking on the C:\MGtools\enableUAC.reg file and allowing it to be added to the registry.
7. Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis if it present
8. Goto the C:\MGtools folder and find the MGclean.bat file. Double click on this file to run this cleanup program that will remove files and folders
   related to MGtools and some other items from our cleaning procedures.
9. If you are running Win 7, Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
   • Refer to the cleaning procedures pointed to by step 7 of the READ ME
     for your Window version and see the instructions to Disable System Restore which will flush your Restore Points.
   • Then reboot and Enable System Restore to create a new clean Restore Point.
10. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:
    • How to Protect yourself from malware!