PUA_FILEOPENER.GA

 Analysis by: John Anthony Banes

 ALIASES:

PUA.MSIL.Easyfileopener (Ikarus); AdvPCTool (McAfee);

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Potentially Unwanted Application

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW


This Potentially Unwanted Application arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites. It arrives as a component bundled with malware/grayware packages. It may be manually installed by a user.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

74,952 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

11 Sep 2017

Arrival Details

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

It arrives as a component bundled with malware/grayware packages.

It may be manually installed by a user.

Other System Modifications

This Potentially Unwanted Application adds the following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Settings

Dropping Routine

This Potentially Unwanted Application drops the following files:

  • C:\logger.txt

Other Details

This Potentially Unwanted Application connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

  • http://crt.{BLOCKED}ca.com
  • http://ocsp.{BLOCKED}ca.com
  • http://www.download.{BLOCKED}supdate.com

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.850

SSAPI PATTERN File:

1.875.00

SSAPI PATTERN Date:

21 Sep 2017

Step 1

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

Step 2

Note that not all files, folders, and registry keys and entries are installed on your computer during this malware's/spyware's/grayware's execution. This may be due to incomplete installation or other operating system conditions. If you do not find the same files/folders/registry information, please proceed to the next step.

Step 3

Identify and terminate files detected as PUA_FILEOPENER.GA

[ 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 4

Delete this registry key

[ 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_CURRENT_USER\Software
    • Settings

Step 5

Search and delete this file

[ Learn More ]
There may be some files that are hidden. Please make sure you check the Search Hidden Files and Folders checkbox in the "More advanced options" option to include all hidden files and folders in the search result.  
  • C:\logger.txt

Step 6

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as PUA_FILEOPENER.GA. 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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