Re-appearing malware in C:\WINDOWS\Temp

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by nezzy, Sep 12, 2010.

  1. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Three files (vren.tmp.exe, qpul.tmp.exe & ixth.tmp.exe) keep re-appearing in my c:\WINDOWS\Temp folder. Avira AntiVir detects the files as malware and then quarantines them but they keep re-appearing.

    Combofix won't run on my PC. It seems to be mistaking my 32 bit version of window for a 64 bit version.....

    Thanks in advance for any help!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Download ComboFix to your desktop, then disable Avira and see if it won't run.

    In the mean time, download The Avenger by Swandog469, and save it to your Desktop.

    * Extract+ avenger.exe from the Zip file and save it to your desktop

    Please disable all anti-virus and anti-spyware programs while we do the following (re-enable when you are finished):

    * Run avenger.exe by double-clicking on it.
    * -Do not change any check box options!!
    * Copy everything in the Quote box below, and paste it into the Input script here: part of the window:

    * Now click the Execute button.
    * Click Yes to the prompt to confirm you want to execute.
    * Click Yes to the Reboot now? question that will appear when Avenger finishes running.
    * Your PC should reboot, if not, reboot it yourself.
    * A log file from Avenger will be produced at C:\avenger.txt and it will popup for you to view when you login after reboot.

    Now run Ccleaner to clean out only temp files and nothing else!

    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:\Avenger.txt
    * C:\MGlogs.zip

    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!
     
  3. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Thanks for the quick response! No change I'm afraid....

    I tried running Combofix again but I got the 'Incompatible os' message again.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    What do you mean by no change? What exactly is going on?

    In the meantime:

    * Run avenger.exe by double-clicking on it.
    * -Do not change any check box options!!
    * Copy everything in the Quote box below, and paste it into the Input script here: part of the window:

    * Now click the Execute button.
    * Click Yes to the prompt to confirm you want to execute.
    * Click Yes to the Reboot now? question that will appear when Avenger finishes running.
    * Your PC should reboot, if not, reboot it yourself.
    * A log file from Avenger will be produced at C:\avenger.txt and it will popup for you to view when you login after reboot.

    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:\Avenger.txt
    * C:\MGlogs.zip

    Make sure you tell me how things are working now!
     
  5. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Thanks. As I've had this problem for a few days, I came up with a temporarily solution of renaming copies of an uninfected .exe file 'vren.tmp.exe', 'ixth.tmp.exe' & 'qpul.tmp.exe' and then pasting them into c:\WINDOWS\Temp which stopped the malware from appearing again.

    I place these 'placeholder' files on my desktop whilst going through the steps. Hopefully this will explain the C:\Documents and Settings\Rich\Desktop\vren.tmp.exe entry on the logs.

    I have now deleted these files to make things clearer.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2010
  6. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    As soon I go online, the three malware files ('vren.tmp.exe', 'ixth.tmp.exe' & 'qpul.tmp.exe') return. vren.tmp.exe also shows up as a process under Windows Task Manager.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 12, 2010
  7. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    None of those type files are showing in your temp folders in your latest logs.

    Let's do this:
    eSet Online Scan.

    Attach the log from the scan. If it finds anything, run it again immediately after until it comes up clean.
     
  8. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    @TimW,

    In the first set of logs, the below 3 items were on the Desktop. You only removed one of them in the fix in msg # 4
    Code:
    "C:\Documents and Settings\Rich\Desktop\"
    ixthtm~1.exe  10 Sep 2010     3427248  "ixth.tmp.exe"
    qpultm~1.exe  10 Sep 2010     3427248  "qpul.tmp.exe"
    vrentm~1.exe  10 Sep 2010     3427248  "vren.tmp.exe"
    Check to make sure they have not come back or have not changed names.

    Edit: And note that I'm not saying they did come back, I'mjust saying to check. I have not read the whole thread. Also I suggest having MGtools run while connected to the internet and without killing any running processes via Task Manager so that the effects of the infection can fully be observed. Sometimes it is important to see things in action to find all of the issues.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2010
  9. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Also just noticed that the below registry key values are missing and need to be restored.


    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
    "Hidden"=dword:00000001
    "SuperHidden"=dword:00000001
    "ShowSuperHidden"=dword:00000001
    "HideFileExt"=dword:00000000
     
  10. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Had a look in Registry Editor and the four entries noted are already set to these values. Should I change them to the opposite values?


     
  11. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    No!

    This is strange since your logs show them to be missing; however, registry information is not being shown properly in the logs. There appears to be some problems with the tools being able to run properly which may indicate other problems with Windows.


    Please click Start, Run, and enter cmd and click OK. This will open a command prompt window. Enter the below commands at the command prompt each followed by the enter key. The bold black are commands. The purple is merely informational.

    cd \MGtools <-- this changes to the MGtools folder and the prompt should change to C:\MGtools>
    GetRunKey <-- this will try to run all one scan from MGtools. Tell me what error messages, if any, you see.
    ShowNew <-- this will try to run all another scan from MGtools. Tell me what error messages, if any, you see.


    Also attach the new MGlogs.zip file that will exist after doing the above.
     
  12. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    I ran the eSet scan three times but the malware returns after I restart and then go online.
     
  13. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Forgot to attach the log!
     

    Attached Files:

  14. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    No error messages. Log attached
     

    Attached Files:

  15. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Interesting. I would have expected a complaint about grep.exe or another program not being able to run. Well let's ignore this for now and try a different couple of scans. While performing the next steps make sure that you do not try to terminate/kill or delete the problematic processes and files. Also make sure that you are connected to the internet while doing the below.

    Download DDS and save it to your desktop from here or here or here.

    Disable any script blocker, and then double click dds.scr to run the tool.
    • When done, DDS will open two (2) logs
      1. DDS.txt
      2. Attach.txt
    • Save both reports to your desktop.
    • Then attach these two logs to your next message.
    Now run the below procedure and attach the log from GMER.

    GMER - running with a random name
     
  16. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    I've had problems running dds in the past ......it seems to run but the two logs don't appear.....

    Could you expand a bit on the 'disable script blockers' statement? Is there a way of checking whether I actually have one?
     
  17. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    You need to shutdown ALL of Avira and ZoneAlarm while running it. The same was true for ComboFix.
     
  18. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Ok.....I shutdown Zone Alarm, disabled the Avira guard AND turned off all Sbybot protection then ran DDS. The script opened and seemed to run but no log!

    Gmer log attached.
     

    Attached Files:

  19. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    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
     
  20. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Done. Log attached.
     

    Attached Files:

  21. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Did you reboot after running it? Are you still having issues? Please 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:\MGlogs.zip
     
  22. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Yeah, I rebooted. It looks like you've done it. SUCCESS!
     

    Attached Files:

  23. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Looks good!!

    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:




    Support MajorGeeks with Geek Wear!
     
  24. nezzy

    nezzy Private E-2

    Ok. Thanks for all your help!
     
  25. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    You are most welcome. Let us know if anything else pops up. ;)
     

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