Analysis by: Marfel Tiamzon
 PLATFORM:

Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003

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

  • Threat Type: File infector

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel: Infects files, Propagates via removable drives

This file infector may arrive bundled with malware packages as a malware component.

It infects by inserting its code to unused space in host files. It infects by appending its code to target host files.

It drops copies of itself in all removable drives. It drops an AUTORUN.INF file to automatically execute the copies it drops when a user accesses the drives of an affected system.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 103,936 bytes
File Type: PE
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 19 Sep 2009

Arrival Details

This file infector may arrive bundled with malware packages as a malware component.

File Infection

This file infector infects by inserting its code to unused space in host files.

It infects by appending its code to target host files.

Propagation

This file infector drops copies of itself in all removable drives.

It drops an AUTORUN.INF file to automatically execute the copies it drops when a user accesses the drives of an affected system.

The said .INF file contains the following strings:

[AutoRun]
open={malware file name}.exe

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 8.900

Step 1

For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users, before doing any scans, please make sure you disable System Restore to allow full scanning of your computer.

Step 2

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product and note files detected as PE_VIRUX.N-3

Step 3

Identify and terminate files detected as PE_VIRUX.N-3

[ Learn More ]
  1. 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.
  2. 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 AUTORUN.INF files created by PE_VIRUX.N-3 that contain these strings

[ Learn More ]
[AutoRun]
open={malware file name}.exe

Step 5

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as PE_VIRUX.N-3. 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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