Analysis by: Marvelous Pelin
ALIASES:

not-a-virus:HEUR:RiskTool.Linux.BitCoinMiner.a (Kaspersky);

 PLATFORM:

Linux

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

  • Threat Type: Trojan

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel: Downloaded from the Internet, Dropped by other malware

This Trojan 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 downloaded by other malware/grayware from remote sites.

It connects to certain websites to send and receive information.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 1,601,828 bytes
File Type: ELF
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 11 Jun 2017
Payload: Mines bitcoins, Connects to URLs/IPs

Arrival Details

This Trojan 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 downloaded by the following malware/grayware from remote sites:

  • ELF64_ETERNALMINER.A

Other Details

This Trojan connects to the following website to send and receive information:

  • xmr.{BLOCKED}-pool.fr:3333

It does the following:

  • It accepts the following parameters:
    • -K, --keep-gantle Reverse some processors for host' processing
    • -o, --url=URL == URL of mining server
    • -O, --userpass=U:P == username:password pair for mining server
    • -u, --user=USERNAME == username for mining server
    • -p, --pass=PASSWORD == password for mining server
      --cert=FILE == certificate for mining server using SSL
    • -x, --proxy=[PROTOCOL://]HOST[:PORT] == connect through a proxy
    • -t, --threads=N == number of miner threads (default: number of processors)
    • -r, --retries=N == number of times to retry if a network call fails (default: retry indefinitely)
    • -R, --retry-pause=N == time to pause between retries, in seconds (default: 30)
    • -T, --timeout=N timeout for long polling, in seconds (default: none)
    • -s, --scantime=N == upper bound on time spent scanning current work when long polling is unavailable, in seconds (default: 5)
      --no-longpoll == disable X-Long-Polling support
      --no-stratum == disable X-Stratum support
      --no-redirect == ignore requests to change the URL of the mining server
    • -q, --quiet == disable per-thread hashmeter output
    • -D, --debug == enable debug output
    • -P, --protocol-dump == verbose dump of protocol-level activities
    • -S, --syslog == use system log for output messages
    • -B, --background == run the miner in the background
      --benchmark == run in offline benchmark mode
    • -c, --config=FILE == load a JSON-format configuration file
    • -V, --version == display version information and exit
    • -h, --help == display this help text and exit
  • It uses a hardcoded credentials for the mining server.
  • This hacking tool is a coin miner used to generate bitcoins.
  • The mining process eats up a system's computing power. As such, infected systems sustain increased wear and tear from processing coin blocks and the infected systems will work abnormally slow.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.850
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE: 13.464.03
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 11 Jun 2017
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 13.465.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 12 Jun 2017

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as ELF64_COINMINER.B. 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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