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WORM_AUTORUN.SSE

October 18, 2012
 ALIASES:

Win32/AutoRun.VB.QD worm (Eset), Worm:Win32/Autorun.ADA (Microsoft), Trojan.Gen (Symantec)

 PLATFORM:

Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003

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

  • Threat Type: Worm

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel:

Propagates via removable drives

This worm arrives via removable drives. It arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It drops an AUTORUN.INF file to automatically execute the copies it drops when a user accesses the drives of an affected system.

As of this writing, the said sites are inaccessible.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

512,000 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

16 Oct 2012

Payload:

Connects to URLs/IPs, Downloads files

Arrival Details

This worm arrives via removable drives.

It 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 worm drops the following copies of itself into the affected system:

  • %Application Data%\ShieldUpdate.exe
  • %Application Data%\Services.exe

(Note: %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Windows\Profiles\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 98 and ME, C:\WINNT\Profiles\{user name}\Application Data on Windows NT, and C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003.)

Autostart Technique

This worm creates the following registry entries to enable automatic execution of dropped component at every system startup:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Update = %Application Data\Services.exe

Propagation

This worm drops the following copy(ies) of itself in all removable drives:

  • {drive letter}:\SetupInstall.exe
  • {drive letter}:\{Folder names}.exe {This malware hides the users folders}

It drops an AUTORUN.INF file to automatically execute the copies it drops when a user accesses the drives of an affected system.

The said .INF file contains the following strings:

[Autorun]
open=SetupInstall.exe
shell\open\Command=SetupInstall.exe

Download Routine

This worm connects to the following website(s) to download and execute a malicious file:

  • {BLOCKED}pload.tk/tmp/229bc5c80d_rula.txt
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}ge.com/files/a/3/5/rula21bc517b.txt

As of this writing, the said sites are inaccessible.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.200

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE:

9.464.02

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE:

16 Oct 2012

VSAPI OPR PATTERN File:

9.465.00

VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date:

17 Oct 2012

Step 1

For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users, before doing any scans, please make sure you disable System Restore to allow full scanning of your computer.

Step 2

Identify and terminate files detected as WORM_AUTORUN.SSE

[ Learn More ]
  1. 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.
  2. If the detected file is not displayed in either Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer, continue doing the next steps.

Step 3

Delete this registry value

[ Learn More ]

Important: Editing the Windows Registry incorrectly can lead to irreversible system malfunction. Please do this step only if you know how or you can ask assistance from your system administrator. Else, check this Microsoft article first before modifying your computer's registry.

  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
    • Update = %Application Data\Services.exe

Step 4

Search and delete AUTORUN.INF files created by WORM_AUTORUN.SSE that contain these strings

[ Learn More ]
 
  • [Autorun]
  • open=SetupInstall.exe
  • shell\open\Command=SetupInstall.exe

Step 5

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as WORM_AUTORUN.SSE. 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 this Knowledge Base page for more information.

Step 6

  1. Open a command prompt.
    • For Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 users, click Start>Run. In the Open input box, type CMD then press Enter.
  2. In the CMD console, type the following:

    ATTRIB [+R | -R] [+A | -A ] [+S | -S] [+H | -H] [+I | -I] [drive:][path][file name] [/S [/D] [/L]]

    Where:
    + Sets an attribute.
    - Clears an attribute
    R Read-only file attribute
    A Archive file attribute
    S System file attribute
    H Hidden file attribute
    I Not content indexed file attribute
    [drive:][path][filename]
    Specifies a file or files for attrib to process
    /S Processes matching files in the current folder and all subfolders.
    /D Processes folders
    /L Work on the attributes of the Symbolic Link versus the target of the Symbolic Link
    Example:
    To unhide all files and folders (including subfolders) in drive D:
    ATTRIB –H D:\* /S /D
  3. Repeat Step 2 for folders and files in other drives or directories.


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