Analysis by: Jaime Benigno Reyes

ALIASES:

Exploit:Win32/CVE-2014-4114 (Microsoft); Exploit.MSPPoint.CVE-2014-4114.h (Kaspersky)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

 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: Spammed via email, Downloaded from the Internet, Dropped by other malware

This is a malicious PowerPoint file, whose final payload is slide1.gif, TROJ_TALERET.ZTBJ-A. The payload is a known family of malware used in targeted attacks involving different Taiwanese industries and government organizations.

To get a one-glance comprehensive view of the behavior of this Trojan, refer to the Threat Diagram shown below.

This Trojan arrives as an attachment to email messages mass-mailed by other malware/grayware or malicious users. 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 executes the dropped file(s). As a result, malicious routines of the dropped files are exhibited on the affected system.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 4,917,678 bytes
Memory Resident: No
Initial Samples Received Date: 20 Oct 2014
Payload: Drops files

Arrival Details

This Trojan arrives as an attachment to email messages mass-mailed by other malware/grayware or malicious users.

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 Trojan drops the following component file(s):

  • %User Temp%\slide1.gif - detected as TROJ_TALERET.ZTBJ-A
  • %User Temp%\slides.inf - detected as INF_BLACKEN.D

(Note: %User Temp% is the current user's Temp folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000(32-bit), XP, and Server 2003(32-bit), or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit) and 10(64-bit).)

Dropping Routine

This Trojan takes advantage of the following software vulnerabilities to drop malicious files:

It executes the dropped file. As a result, malicious routines of the dropped file are exhibited on the affected system.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.700
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE: 11.224.05
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 20 Oct 2014
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 11.225.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 21 Oct 2014

Step 1

Before doing any scans, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 users must disable System Restore to allow full scanning of their computers.

Step 2

Remove malware/grayware files dropped/downloaded by TROJ_MDROP.ZTBJ. (Note: Please skip this step if the threats listed below have already been removed.)

Step 3

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as TROJ_MDROP.ZTBJ. 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:

Step 4

Download and apply these security patches Refrain from using these products until the appropriate patches have been installed. Trend Micro advises users to download critical patches upon release by vendors.


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