Analysis by: Wilbert Vidal

ALIASES:

Linux.Application.Agent.45JBON (GData); Tool.Linux.BtcMine.296 (DrWeb)

 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 does not have any propagation routine.

It connects to certain websites to send and receive information.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 2,219,316 bytes
File Type: ELF
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 15 Dec 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.

Propagation

This Trojan does not have any propagation routine.

Rootkit Capabilities

This Trojan does not have rootkit capabilities.

Other Details

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

  • stratum+tcp://{BLOCKED}l.{BLOCKED}r.com:80

It does the following:

  • It uses a hardcoded credentials for the mining server.
  • This hacking tool is a CPU miner used to generate cryptocurrency.
  • 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.
  • accepts the following parameters:
    • -a, --algo=ALGO cryptonight (default) or cryptonightite
    • -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
    • -t, --threads=N number of miner threads
    • -v, --av=N algorithm variation, 0 auto select
    • -k, --keepalive send keepalived for prevent timeout (need pool support)
    • -r, --retries=N number of times to retry before switch to backup server (default: 5)
    • -R, --retry-pause=N time to pause between retries (default: 5)
    • --cpu-affinity set process affinity to CPU core(s), mask 0x3 for cores 0 and 1
    • --cpu-priority set process priority (0 idle, 2 normal to 5 highest)
    • --no-huge-pages disable huge pages support
    • --no-color disable colored output
    • --donate-level=N donate level, default 5%% (5 minutes in 100 minutes)
    • --user-agent set custom user-agent string for pool
    • -B, --background run the miner in the background
    • -c, --config=FILE load a JSON-format configuration file
    • -l, --log-file=FILE log all output to a file
    • -S, --syslog use system log for output messages
    • --max-cpu-usage=N maximum CPU usage for automatic threads mode (default 75)
    • --safe safe adjust threads and av settings for current CPU
    • --nicehash enable nicehash/xmrig-proxy support
    • --print-time=N print hashrate report every N seconds
    • --api-port=N port for the miner API
    • --api-access-token=T access token for API
    • --api-worker-id=ID custom worker-id for API
    • -h, --help display this help and exit
    • -V, --version output version information and exit,0

It does not exploit any vulnerability.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.850
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE: 13.854.04
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 20 Dec 2017
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 13.855.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 21 Dec 2017

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as ELF_COINMINER.G. 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 the following Trend Micro Support pages for more information:


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