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WORM_HAMWEQ.AN

October 08, 2012
 Analysis by: jasperm
 PLATFORM:

Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003

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

  • Threat Type: Worm

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This worm drops copies of itself into all the removable drives connected to an affected system. It drops an AUTORUN.INF file to automatically execute the copies it drops when a user accesses the drives of an affected system.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

30,720 bytes

File Type:

PE

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

07 Sep 2008

Installation

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

  • %SystemRoot%\RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe

It creates the following folders:

  • %SystemRoot%\RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013

Autostart Technique

This worm adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Active Setup\Installed Components\ {28ABC5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAX5-81CX1C635612}
StubPath = "%System Root%\RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe"

Propagation

This worm drops copies of itself into all the removable drives connected to an affected system.

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=RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe
icon=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll,4
action=Open folder to view files
shell\open=Open
shell\open\command=RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe
shell\open\default=1

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

8.900

VSAPI PATTERN File:

5.533.00

VSAPI PATTERN Date:

09 Sep 2008

VSAPI PATTERN Date:

9/9/2008 12:00:00 AM

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

Restart in Safe Mode

[ Learn More ]

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\Active Setup\Installed Components\ {28ABC5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAX5-81CX1C635612}
    • StubPath=%System Root%\RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe

Step 4

Search and delete this folder

[ Learn More ]
Please make sure you check the Search Hidden Files and Folders checkbox in the More advanced options option to include all hidden folders in the search result.

  • %SystemRoot%\RECYCLER

Step 5

Search and delete AUTORUN.INF files created by WORM_HAMWEQ.AN that contain these strings

[ Learn More ]
 [Autorun]
open=RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe
icon=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll,4
action=Open folder to view files
shell\open=Open
shell\open\command=RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\win32.exe
shell\open\default=1

Step 6

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as WORM_HAMWEQ.AN. 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.


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