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Coinminer.Win64.TOOLXMR.AQ

March 25, 2019
 Analysis by: Kiyoshi Obuchi
 ALIASES:

PUA:Win32/CoinMiner (Microsoft);

 PLATFORM:

Windows

 OVERALL RISK RATING:
 DAMAGE POTENTIAL:
 DISTRIBUTION POTENTIAL:
 REPORTED INFECTION:
 INFORMATION EXPOSURE:

  • Threat Type: Coinminer

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel:

Downloaded from the Internet, Dropped by other malware

This Coinminer arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

1,359,360 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

No

Initial Samples Received Date:

22 Mar 2019

Arrival Details

This Coinminer arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Installation

This Coinminer adds the following mutexes to ensure that only one of its copies runs at any one time:

  • {B8A7AE22-7F59-CDE5-71F9C2A}

Other Details

This Coinminer does the following:

  • The following configuration is also used:
    • donate-level="1"
    • threads = "1"
    • nicehash support is enabled
  • It uses the system's central processing unit(CPU) resources to mine for cryptocurrency. This behavior makes the system run abnormally slow.
  • Connects to the following URL for coinmining activities:
    • https://iron.{BLOCKED}r.com
  • Uses the following Username and Password:
    • username = "iron1"
    • password = "x"

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.850

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE:

14.890.03

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE:

23 Mar 2019

VSAPI OPR PATTERN File:

14.891.00

VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date:

24 Mar 2019

Step 1

Before doing any scans, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 users must disable System Restore to allow full scanning of their computers.

Step 2

Identify and terminate files detected as Coinminer.Win64.TOOLXMR.AQ

[ Learn More ]
  1. Windows Task Manager may not display all running processes. In this case, please use a third-party process viewer, preferably Process Explorer, to terminate the malware/grayware/spyware file. You may download the said tool here.
  2. If the detected file is displayed in either Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer but you cannot delete it, restart your computer in safe mode. To do this, refer to this link for the complete steps.
  3. If the detected file is not displayed in either Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer, continue doing the next steps.

Step 3

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as Coinminer.Win64.TOOLXMR.AQ. If the detected files have already been cleaned, deleted, or quarantined by your Trend Micro product, no further step is required. You may opt to simply delete the quarantined files. Please check the following Trend Micro Support pages for more information:


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