Analysis by: Anthony Joe Melgarejo
ALIASES:

Adware:Win32/Onflow (Microsoft), Adware.Gen (Symantec), Adware-OnFlow. (McAfee)

 PLATFORM:

Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003

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

  • Threat Type: Adware

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This adware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites. It may be manually installed by a user.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: Varies
File Type: EXE, DLL
Memory Resident: No
Initial Samples Received Date: 07 Apr 2011

Arrival Details

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

It may be manually installed by a user.

Installation

This adware adds the following folders:

  • %Program Files%\onflow

(Note: %Program Files% is the default Program Files folder, usually C:\Program Files.)

It drops the following files:

  • %Program Files%\onflow\unistall onflow.exe

(Note: %Program Files% is the default Program Files folder, usually C:\Program Files.)

Other System Modifications

This adware adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Onflow
OFMID = "{random value}"

Other Details

This adware adds the following registry entries to add an uninstall option to the Control Panel:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
Onflow
DisplayName = Onflow Player

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
Onflow
UninstallString = "C:\program files\onflow\uninstall onflow.exe"

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.200
SSAPI PATTERN File: 1.164.28
SSAPI PATTERN Date: 07 Apr 2011

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

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\Onflow
    • OFMID = "{random value}"
  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Onflow
    • DisplayName = Onflow Player
  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Onflow
    • UninstallString = "C:\program files\onflow\uninstall onflow.exe"

Step 3

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.
  • %Program Files%\onflow

Step 4

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