Task manager and regedit blocked by something nasty

Discussion in 'Malware Help (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by Hooop, Dec 9, 2008.

  1. Hooop

    Hooop Private E-2

    Hi - can anyone help with this? I've done some searching, but couldn't find any reports of the same issue.
    One machine in the office popped up some Windows Firewall warnings, for odd looking exes. The user shut it down and got me to look at it. Now when I boot it I can't access Task Manager or Regedit - a pop up reports that I don't have privileges, even though it's logged on as administrator. I reinstalled XP Pro SP3 on a new drive fine, then put the old drive in as a secondary drive, to get the data off it. Bang, the malware was straight back on. I plugged in a USB drive, and a suspicious looking file was created immediately on the root of the drive. It appears with an MSdos icon, and it's called vypw, with no extension.
    I'm now reinstalling Windows again, but I've got a couple of questions:
    1. I've checked all our machines, and I've got a Win2k SP4 machine with the same issues that I really don't want to reinstall. I've run through the malware removal guide on this site, and each scan found stuff that was removed, but the symptoms still remain. I've attached the log files.
    2. Any idea how to get the data off the drive safely? It's formatted NTFS so I don't believe it will be readable on a Mac.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Hooop

    Hooop Private E-2

    MGlogs file added
     

    Attached Files:

  3. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Welcome to Major Geeks!


    Do you know what the below service is from? I see the Zcopy Server installed but what is it?
    Is this PC bypassing the Welcome Screen on purpose? This provides lower security! The below registry key shows this setting.
    Run C:\MGtools\analyse.exe by double clicking on it (Note: if using Vista, don't double click, use right click and select Run As Administrator). This is really HijackThis (select Do a system scan only) and select the following lines but DO NOT CLICK FIX until you exit all browser sessions including the one you are reading in right now:

    O7 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System, DisableRegedit=1
    O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm
    O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm

    After clicking Fix, exit HJT.


    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.
    • 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 copy the bold text below to notepad. Save it as fixme.reg to your desktop. Be sure the "Save as" type is set to "all files" Once you have saved it double click it and allow it to merge with the registry.
    Make sure that you tell me if you receive a success message about adding the above
    to the registry. If you do not get a success message, it definitely did not work.

    Now run Ccleaner!

    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!
     
  4. Hooop

    Hooop Private E-2

    Hi, and thanks for the help.
    I've made quite a bit of progress since I posted, but didn't want to repost after reading the "don't bump" sticky.
    I seem to have cleaned it. I upgraded to AVG 8, and it discovered a whole long list of threats. It's identified it as Tanatos.M, and it's infected pretty much every exe file on the machine. After removing every infected file with AVG and then running combofix the machine now seems OK. Task manager and Regedit are available, and AVG scans are clean. Obviously I've had to replace all the missing exe files.
    I would like to do a full check to make sure the machine is really clean, should I run the process that you describe below, or is it a different process now that it seems to be clean?

    Zcopy server is a service that I wrote, so it's not suspicious.
    Isn't the Welcome Screen an XP feature? This machine is running 2K, and the machine is set to autologon.

    The real mistake I made here was not upgrading to AVG 8. Since AVG 7.5 was still being updated, I thought that AVG 8 was simply more features, like Link Scanner, that I didn't want. It turns out that AVG 8 will pick up threats that AVG 7.5 misses.
     
  5. Hooop

    Hooop Private E-2

    I thought I'd run the tasks you suggested anyway, even though I think it's clean.
    HijackThis didn't show this item, as I've already run it once and fixed it:
    O7 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System, DisableRegedit=1
    It did show these two, so I fixed them
    O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm
    O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm

    I ran ComboFix, and since I can now run Regedit I looked at the key you mention. DisabletaskMgr and DisableRegistryTools have been removed.

    The logs are attached
     

    Attached Files:

  6. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Infections like that can cause long term issues on a PC. You may find out over a period of time that may programs/processes may not run anymore. You may have to reinstall some programs. I also suggest that you do the below.

    Click Start, Run, and enter sfc /scannow and click OK. There is a space after the sfc. This runs System Rile Checker which looks for missing or corrupted system files and attempts to replace/repair them from files on your hard disk or from the CD if necessary. So it will ask for the Windows CD if it needs it.


    Your last logs were clean. If you are not having any other malware problems, it is time to do our final steps:
    1. We recommed 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.
      • Delete the C:\combofix folder from combofix (if it exists)
    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. You can delete the C:\MGtools folder and the C:\MGtools.exe file. You can also delete the C:\MGlogs.zip
    8. If you are running Vista, Windows XP or Windows ME, do the below:
      • Refer to the cleaning steps in the READ ME for your Window version and see the steps 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:
     
  7. Hooop

    Hooop Private E-2

    SFC asked for the Windows CD, so I guess it needed to replace some files.
    The machine seems to be fine now. I can cope with any reinstalls that become necessary, just as long as the virus isn't going to reappear and spread again!

    Thanks for all your help.
     
  8. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    You're welcome. Surf safely.
     

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