Suspected rootkit

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by dolin, Oct 31, 2010.

  1. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    I am working on a friends computer which I believe has a rootkit. It is a vista machine. I have run memtest and a hard drive scan, both of which found no problems. I have scanned the hard drive using a different machine using SAS, MWB and Avira; no problems were found by any of these programs. On the machine in question, I am not able to run, or install any of the programs listed in the malware removal guide. I am also not able to perform most administrative tasks, such as killing processes. When I attempt to do either of those things, I just get the 'busy' circle, which never goes away, and I eventually just have to logoff, and then back in. I also cannot run regedit from the command line. I WAS able to run regedit from safe mode, and in the current user hive, there are a bunch of keys, which just seem to have long strings of random characters. I am able to run other executables, such as Word, iTunes and other things from the desktop, just not anything that has to do with malware removal or system tasks. I remove a lot malware for people from their computers, but this one has me stumped. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks. I would have attached the requested log files if I could even get them, but I cannot even get to the point where I disable UAC.
     
    dolin, Oct 31, 2010
    #1
  2. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Welcome to Major Geeks!

    Please download and run the below tool named Rkill (courtesy of BleepingComputer.com) which may help allow other programs to run.
    There are 4 different versions. If one of them won't run then download and try to run the other one.

    Vista and Win7 users need to right click and choose Run as Administrator

    You only need to get one of them to run, not all of them. You may get warnings from your antivirus about this tool, ignore them or shutdown your antivirus.
    1. Rkill.exe
    2. Rkill.com
    3. Rkill.scr
    4. Rkill.pif
    Once you've gotten one of them to run then try to immediately run the following.


    Download and save the below to your PC (save it anywhere you can find it. The Desktop is fine). Then double click on it to run it.

    AVPFind.bat

    It should take a couple minutes to run. You will see a black command prompt window while it is running and it should close when it is finished. Once it finishes, attach the c:\avplog.txt file that is will hopefully create as long as the malware does not block the batch file from running. (See: HOW TO: Attach Items To Your Post )


    Now download and Run exeHelper
    • Please download exeHelper to your desktop.
    • Double-click on exeHelper.com to run the fix.
    • A black window should pop up, press any key to close once the fix is completed.
    • A log file named log.txt will be created in the directory where you ran exeHelper.com
    • Attach the log.txt file to your next message.
    Note: If the window shows a message that says "Error deleting file", please re-run the program before posting a log - and post the two logs together (they will both be in the one file).


    Also please try running the below online scan:

    http://www.superantispyware.com/onlinescan.html

    Reboot immediately after scanning if it finds and removes anything. Let me know if anything was found. See if you can save a log with it.


    Then try running these instructions: Using MGtools (Rename MGTools.exe if you have problems running it and also try in safe mode if normal mode is problematic)

    Also try this

    Go to TDSSKiller and Download TDSSKiller.zip to your Desktop

    • Extract its contents to your Desktop so that you have TDSSKiller.exe directly on your Desktop and not in any subfolder of the Desktop.
    • Now double click the TDSSkiller.exe file to run it ( if using Vista or Windows 7 do not double click on it but rather, right click and select Run As Administrartor.
    • Allow the application to run and a window will open showing that it is TDSSkiller from Kaspersky
    • Click Start scan
    • It will run rather quickly and will notify you of whether anything is found or not.
    • Follow the instructions to delete/quarantine if asks you what to do when if finds something.
    Whether an infection is found or not, a log file should be created on your C: drive ( or whatever drive you boot from) in the root folder named something like TDSSKiller.2.1.1_27.12.2009_14.17.04_log.txt which is based on the program version # and date and time run. Please attach this log to your next reply. (See: HOW TO: Attach Items To Your Post )




    Attach the below logs when finished with all of the above:
    • C:\avplog.txt - from AVPfind
    • a log from online SAS scan if you could make one
    • log.txt - from exeHelper
    • C:\MGlogs.zip - from MGtools
    The C:\ assumes that drive C is you Windows boot drive. If you boot from another drive, then use the correct drive letter above.
     
    Kestrel13!, Nov 1, 2010
    #2
  3. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    Here are the logs. The computer just hung up when I tried to run SAS. It does seem to be running better now, but it still locks up quite a bit. This seems alot like a malware problem, but I'm also wondering if there is perhaps a hardware issue. Anyway, I'll let you see waht you can find in the logs, and in the meantime, I'm going to boot from an Ubuntu live CD and see how the machine acts. Thanks for your help so far.
     

    Attached Files:

    dolin, Nov 1, 2010
    #3
  4. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    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>
    ShowNew <-- this will try to run all another scan from MGtools. Tell me what error messages, if any, you see.
    GetRunKey <-- this will try to run all one scan from MGtools. Tell me what error messages, if any, you see.
     
    Kestrel13!, Nov 2, 2010
    #4
  5. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    I have lunch in about an hour and a half, and I will do those. During what hours are you usually helping out. I think I'm usually at work when you are helping out. I'll get home for lunch and get the requested info for you.
     
    dolin, Nov 2, 2010
    #5
  6. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    I'm on UK time. I am generally logged in between 12 noon and 5pm then from around midnight through until whenever I get too tired.
     
    Kestrel13!, Nov 2, 2010
    #6
  7. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    How long should these take? I executed 'shownew' about 5 minutes ago; it shows the warning about not clicking the cancel button, and I have a blinking cursor at the bottom left, but no C: prompt. Judging by the hdd activity light, it doesn't seem like anything is happening. Is it useful to try these programs in safe mode?
     
    dolin, Nov 2, 2010
    #7
  8. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    Been about 25 minutes now, and nothing has changed. Gotta go back to work now.
     
    dolin, Nov 2, 2010
    #8
  9. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    Yes, try to run C:\MGTools.exe in safe mode.
     
    Kestrel13!, Nov 2, 2010
    #9
  10. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    Ok. I was able to run both 'shownew' and 'getrunkey' in safe mode. Together they created 6 text files in the mgtools directory. I also included two text files that were created yesterday while I was trying to run the previous directions. Not sure if you need them, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
     

    Attached Files:

    dolin, Nov 2, 2010
    #10
  11. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Please attach this log:
    C:\TDSSKiller.2.4.5.1_01.11.2010_20.10.27_log.txt
     
    TimW, Nov 2, 2010
    #11
  12. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    Here it is.
     

    Attached Files:

    dolin, Nov 2, 2010
    #12
  13. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    I am not seeing any evidence of a rootkit infection. What issues are you having?
     
    TimW, Nov 2, 2010
    #13
  14. dolin

    dolin Private E-2

    Since you're not seeing any signs of infection, and I've already spent quite a few hours on this for my friend, I'm just going to suggest a fresh install of Windows. I think that's the only way i'm really going to know if this could possibly be a hardware issue (although Ubuntu runs great from CD). Thanks for all of your help folks. It's nice to know that people like yourselves donate your time to help others.
     
    dolin, Nov 3, 2010
    #14
  15. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Fair enough. And you are most welcome.
     
    TimW, Nov 4, 2010
    #15

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