Analysis by: Pearl Charlaine Espejo
ALIASES:

HEUR:AdWare.Win32.MultiPlug.heur (Kaspersky); BrowserModifier:Win32/Diplugem (Microsoft); MultiPlug (McAfee); MultiPlug (VIPRE)

 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. It arrives as a component bundled with malware/grayware packages.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 353,792 bytes
File Type: EXE
Memory Resident: No
Initial Samples Received Date: 22 Dec 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.

It arrives as a component bundled with malware/grayware packages.

Installation

This adware drops the following files:

  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{malware filename}.dat
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{random filename 1}
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{random filename 2}

(Note: %All Users Profile% is the All Users folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\ProgramData on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

It drops the following copies of itself into the affected system:

  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{malware filename}.exe

(Note: %All Users Profile% is the All Users folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\ProgramData on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

It creates the following folders:

  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}

(Note: %All Users Profile% is the All Users folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\ProgramData on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

Autostart Technique

This adware drops the following files:

  • %Windows%\Tasks\VeganWiz.job

(Note: %Windows% is the Windows folder, where it usually is C:\Windows on all Windows operating system versions.)

Other System Modifications

This adware adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
{random}
= "{data}"

Other Details

This adware connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

  • http://{BLOCKED}el-pro.com/get/?q={data}
  • http://{BLOCKED}ny.link/?q={data}
  • http://{BLOCKED}model.biz/?q={data}
  • http://{BLOCKED}cat.net/?q={data}

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.800
SSAPI PATTERN File: 1.689.80
SSAPI PATTERN Date: 23 Dec 2015

Step 1

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

Step 2

Note that not all files, folders, and registry keys and entries are installed on your computer during this malware's/spyware's/grayware's execution. This may be due to incomplete installation or other operating system conditions. If you do not find the same files/folders/registry information, please proceed to the next step.

Step 3

Identify and terminate files detected as ADW_MULTIPLUG.GK

[ Learn More ]
  1. Windows Task Manager may not display all running processes. In this case, please use a third-party process viewer, preferably Process Explorer, to terminate the malware/grayware/spyware file. You may download the said tool here.
  2. If the detected file is displayed in either Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer but you cannot delete it, restart your computer in safe mode. To do this, refer to this link for the complete steps.
  3. If the detected file is not displayed in either Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer, continue doing the next steps.

Step 4

Search and delete these files

[ Learn More ]
There may be some files that are hidden. Please make sure you check the Search Hidden Files and Folders checkbox in the "More advanced options" option to include all hidden files and folders in the search result.
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{malware filename}.dat
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{random filename 1}
  • %All Users Profile%\Application Data\{UID}\{random filename 2}
  • %Windows%\Tasks\VeganWiz.job

Step 5

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

Step 6

The following created files/folders/registry keys/registry entries cannot be identified by the user since there are no reference values in the created key. The only way it can be identified is by comparing the present system information with a backup. Note that the said components do not have to be deleted since it won't be harmful to the system.

  • In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{random}
    • = "{data}"


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