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PUA_HAO.GA

June 26, 2015
 Analysis by: David John Agni
 ALIASES:

Riskware/Hao123 (Fortinet), ESET-NOD32 Win32/Hao123.E potentially unwanted (ESET-NOD32), HEUR:Trojan.Win32.StartPage (Kaspersky)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Potentially Unwanted Application

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This potentially unwanted application may arrive bundled with malware packages as a malware component. 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 modifies the user's Internet Explorer home page into a certain website. This action allows the malware to point to a website which may contain malware, putting the affected computer at greater risk of malware infection.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

829,416 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

No

Initial Samples Received Date:

15 Jun 2015

Arrival Details

This potentially unwanted application may arrive bundled with malware packages as a malware component.

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 potentially unwanted application drops the following files:

  • %Desktop%\Hao123.lnk
  • %User Profile%\My Documents\Baidu\Hao123\JP\Hao123.ico - Windows XP and below.
  • %User Profile%\Documents\Baidu\Hao123\JP\Hao123.ico - Windows Vista and above.

(Note: %Desktop% is the desktop folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Desktop in Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\Desktop in Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.. %User Profile% is the current user's profile folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name} on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name} on Windows Vista and 7.)

Web Browser Home Page and Search Page Modification

This potentially unwanted application modifies the user's Internet Explorer home page to the following websites:

  • http://jp.{BLOCKED}3.com/?tn=ime_inner_hp_13_hao123_jp&business_platform&

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.750

SSAPI PATTERN File:

1.637.00

SSAPI PATTERN Date:

02 Jul 2015

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

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.
  • %Desktop%\Hao123.lnk
  • %User Profile%\My Documents\Baidu\Hao123\JP\Hao123.ico - Windows XP and below
  • %User Profile%\Documents\Baidu\Hao123\JP\Hao123.ico - Windows Vista and above

Step 4

Reset the Internet Explorer Home and Search pages

[ Learn More ]

Step 5

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