Google Redirects

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by username1, Oct 22, 2009.

  1. username1

    username1 Private E-2

    I have searched other threads with similar problems and cannot get rid of this malware.

    As the title states, google search links redirect to ad sites. This happens in all browsers. Host file is clean. DNS clean. Attached are my scan logs.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. username1

    username1 Private E-2

    MGlog
     

    Attached Files:

  3. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Welcome to Major Geeks!

    First you must disable Spybot's Teatimer as requested in the READ & RUN ME. See this: How to disable Spybot's TeaTimer

    Now please remove the below copy of MGtools.exe from your Desktop as this is not where we requested it be saved
    C:\Documents and Settings\Lee\Desktop\MGtools.exe


    I strongly advise you to cleanup your Desktop. Remove eveything but links to run programs. Do not download and save programs here and defintely do not use it for long term storage. You need to keep ComboFix.exe here for now as we need it, but we will be removing it when we are finished with your cleanup. A cluttered Desktop is malware's playground and it can also cause performance degradation especially when you start saving large files here like you are doing.

    Run this Disable/Remove Windows Messenger to remove Windows Messenger. Do not confuse Windows Messenger with MSN Messenger because they are not the same. Windows Messenger is a frequent cause of popups.

    Uninstall the below software:
    Rebate! Rebate! 2.0 << uninstall this if you did not knowingly install it.
    Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.4


    Now we need to use ComboFix
    • 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.
    • Also make sure you have shut down all protection software (antivirus, antispyware...etc) or they may get in the way of allowing ComboFix to run properly.
    • If ComboFix tells you it has expired or need to be updated to a new version, make sure you allow it to update.
    • Open Notepad and copy/paste the text in the below quote box into it:
    • 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
    • Follow the prompts.
    • When it finishes, a log will be produced named c:\combofix.txt
    • I will ask for this log below
    Note:

    Do not mouseclick combofix's window while it is running. That may cause it to stall.

    Now run Ccleaner. Only use the Run Cleaner button. Do not run anything else on any other forms.

    Now run the C:\MGtools\GetLogs.bat file by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator).


    Then attach the below logs:
    • C:\ComboFix.txt
    • C:\MGlogs.zip
    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2009
  4. username1

    username1 Private E-2

    Thanks for the reply.

    OK. Here is what I did so far

    1. Disabled TeaTimer
    2. Removed Windows Messenger
    3. Removed S&D 1.4 (Rebate Rebate I installed)
    4. Ran ComboFix with the posted file (I omitted the Perl scripts and associated jobs because I wrote those scripts and created the windows tasks)
    5. Ran CCleaner
    6. Ran GetLogs.bat
    7. Posted logs here

    Behavior is the same. Google links randomly redirect.

    I will be cleaning up my desktop before I get your next set of instructions.

    Thanks again.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Your logs are all clean.

    If not always redirected, it may not be malware. Where are you redirected too exactly? Give exact examples of what you are searching for and what links you click on and where you are redirected to.

    Uninstall FireFox, reboot. Delete the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox folder. Then reinstall Firefox and see if it still redirect.


    Also one more thing to try since some infections have been know to affect routers. If you have a router, power cycle it. Also follow the instructions for your hardware and reset it to factory default settings. Normally there is a recessed push button type switch that needs to be held down for some number of seconds to do this. After resetting to factory defaults on your router, you will need to reconfigure the router for your network if you have made any changes to the default network setup.
     
  6. username1

    username1 Private E-2

    Ok. Did some more digging. I can do a google search for anything. When clicking on the resulting links, at random, I will get redirected to r3953724.cn then quickly pushed to a third party site. The third party site is usually somewhat related to my original search terms.

    This problem is symptomatic of all my browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari). And interesting enough, I haven't used Safari in a long time, but the problem is the same. So I don't think that removing the browser will work? WDYT?

    Good point. All other computers on my home network do not exhibit this behavior. Bypassing the router produces the same results, so the router may be eliminated.

    I did see someone having a similar problem (redirected to the same .cn domain) here. Someone recommended running GMER. Any thoughts?
     
  7. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Since it appears to be isolated to this PC and not any particular browser, uninstalling might not have any effect but sometimes it does since if it is an infection, it could have infected all browsers the same way and an uninstall, deletion of folders to be sure to remove any possible bad files, followed by a reinstall could cause a change. Do not reinstall any browser addons until verifying the status. Browser addons have been known to be the source of redirections too.



    Good!

    Since ComboFix and RootRepeal do not show anything it is unlikely but not impossible. You could try following the below instructions and attach the GMER log:

    Running GMER to detect rootkits


    Also do the below to see if there is any change.


    Click Start > Run and type in cmd
    • Click OK.
    • This will open a command prompt.
    • Type or copy and paste the following line in the command window:
      ipconfig /flushdns
    • Hit Enter
    • Exit the command window



    Download HostsXpert and then follow the below steps.
    • Unzip HostsXpert.zip
    • It will create a folder named HostsXpert in whatever folder you extract it to.
    • Run HostsXpert.exe by double clicking on it.
    • Click the Make Writeable? button. (if you only see a Make Read-Only selection, it is already writeable so skip this button).
    • Click Restore Microsoft's Hosts File and then click OK.
    • Click the X to exit the program
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2009
  8. username1

    username1 Private E-2

    did some more sleuthing. Found a rootkit installed in atapi.sys. Replaced file and problem appears to be fixed. No need to uninstall any browsers (yay!)

    I must have been using an older version of ComboFix. The latest version found and fixed the rootkit.

    Thanks for your help.
     
  9. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    You're welcome. Yes the new version of ComboFix has been locating problems in that file and a few others.



    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" /u
        • Notes: The space between the combofix" and the /u, it must be there.
        • This will uninstall ComboFix and also reset hidden files and folders settings back to Windows defaults.
    3. Any other miscellaneous tools we may have had you install or download can be uninstalled and deleted.
    4. If we had you download any registry patches like fixme.reg or fixWLK.reg (or any others), you can delete these files now.
    5. 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.
    6. Go to add/remove programs and uninstall HijackThis.
    7. 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.
    8. If you are running Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
      • Refer to the cleaning procedures pointed to by step 6 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.
    9. After doing the above, you should work thru the below link:
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds