Persistent Malware, Possible Rootkit Problem

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by adknate, Dec 3, 2010.

  1. adknate

    adknate Private E-2

    Computer is a Dell running Vista and is 32-bit.

    Symptoms:
    1. When opening IE or Firefox, an advertisement window will pop-up in addition to the homepage.
    2. Frequent 'Host process server' has stopped working messages. Windows will hang frequently.
    3. I can use Windows explorer, but it will not respond for 30 seconds to a minute. Then I can do a few things before it hangs again. It seems to be related to the host process error.
    4. Windows update will not download. It runs, but can't connect to Microsoft. (I've done it through windows and also through the Microsoft update site.) All firewalls should be off, and I've shut down AVG and other detectors.

    I ran the Read and Run tests, and the the instructions for Cleaning Vista.

    My logs from READ ME AND RUN are attached.

    Superanti Spyware - I ran this before coming to this forum and it found things. Unfortunately, I uninstalled and lost the logs before doing the READ ME. I re-installed, but it did not come up with anything during this scan...

    Malwarebytes - Same situation with Malwarebytes, but I have the logs. I have attached the latest log, as well as the logs that showed infections.

    Combofix - This seemed to come up with something, but I don't understand what to do. I noticed on the log it said windows defender was enabled, I thought I had disabled it. Should I disable and try again?

    I will post Combofix, Root Repeal and MGtools logs in a reply post.

    Thank you for your help.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. adknate

    adknate Private E-2

    Additional Logs attached.

    I had to rerun Root Repeal this morning because the log from last night was incomplete, not quite sure why it didn't do everything. (I ran it twice last night, the save messed up because windows crashed.) I attached both logs, the one labeled 12-02 being the one from last night, 12-03 from today. (Sorry, that's obvious, but I wanted to clarify, since I was the one that named them.)

    Thanks again for your help.
     

    Attached Files:

  3. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Please put Combofix directly on your desktop, not here:
    Running from: c:\users\Nick\Downloads\ComboFix.exe

    Please download the TDSS Rootkit Removing Tool (TDSSKiller.exe) and save it to your Desktop. <-Important!!!


    Be sure to download TDSSKiller.exe (v2.4.0.0) from Kaspersky's website and not TDSSKiller.zip which appears to be an older version 2.3.2.2 of the tool.

    • Double-click on TDSSKiller.exe to run the tool for known TDSS variants.
      Vista/Windows 7 users right-click and select Run As Administrator.
    • If TDSSKiller does not run, try renaming it.
    • To do this, right-click on TDSSKiller.exe, select Rename and give it a random name with the .com file extension (i.e. 123abc.com). If you do not see the file extension, please refer to How to change the file extension.
    • Click the Start Scan button.
    • Do not use the computer during the scan
    • If the scan completes with nothing found, click Close to exit.
    • If malicious objects are found, they will show in the Scan results - Select action for found objects and offer three options.
    • Ensure Cure (default) is selected, then click Continue > Reboot now to finish the cleaning process.
    • A log file named TDSSKiller_version_date_time_log.txt (i.e. TDSSKiller.2.4.0.0_27.07.2010_14.17.05_log.txt) will be created and saved to the root directory ( usually Local Disk C ).
    • Attach this log to your next message
     
  4. adknate

    adknate Private E-2

    Tim, thanks for your response. I will put combofix (and TDSS) directly on the desktop. I was confused from your post, do I run Combofix first and then TDSS, or run TDSS and then post the log and await instruction?

    Thanks.
    nate
     
  5. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Just put Combo on your desktop for now. Run TDSSKiller and attach the log.
     
  6. adknate

    adknate Private E-2

    Logs from TDSSKiller. The one ending in .11 is the pertinent one, I believe, but I attached the other since it was there.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    OK, that should have fixed the issues, but re-run Combo now so we can see if it still reports it as infected.
     
  8. adknate

    adknate Private E-2

    New Combo fix log.
     

    Attached Files:

  9. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Looks good. What issues are remaining, if any?
     
  10. adknate

    adknate Private E-2

    Everything seems to be in order. I was able to run and install Windows Update and I have not (Knock on wood) seen the pop-up ad or the 'host process server' error.

    I believe I need to: re-enable user access control, toggle system restore (as per README), re-enable disk emulation software (? is this necessary, defogger didn't find any) and re-install Virus protection (your site doesn't seem to recommend AVG, which is what we had, is Avira a better option?)

    Thank you very much for your help.

    nate
     
  11. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    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 real time protection. They do not use any significant amount of resources ( except a little disk space ) until you run a scan.We recommend them for doing backup scans when you suspect a malware infection.
    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 of 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.
    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:




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