Analysis by: David John Agni
ALIASES:

Riskware/Salus (Fortinet), a variant of Win32/Adware.Salus.A application (ESET-NOD32)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • 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.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 2,391,040 bytes
File Type: EXE
Memory Resident: No
Initial Samples Received Date: 23 Mar 2015

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.

Installation

This adware drops the following files:

  • {adware path}\{adware filename}.log
  • {adware path}\SSL\Salus CA.ce
  • {adware path}\SSL\Salus CA.pvk

It creates the following folders:

  • {adware path}
  • {adware path}\SSL

Other System Modifications

This adware adds the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\
Services
{adware filename} =

It adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\
Services\{adware filename}
DisplayName = "{adware filename}"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\
Services\{adware filename}
Group = "PNP_TDI"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\
Services\{adware filename}
ImagePath = "system32\drivers\{adware filename}.sys"

Other Details

This adware connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

  • http://{BLOCKED}g.{BLOCKED}rl.com/salus/log/settings.json