Analysis by: Joshua John Bantayan

ALIASES:

HEUR:RiskTool.Win32.BitMiner.gen (KASPERSKY); PUA.CoinMiner (IKARUS)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Potentially Unwanted Application

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

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

This Potentially Unwanted Application arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It uses the system's central processing unit (CPU) and/or graphical processing unit (GPU) resources to mine cryptocurrency.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 7,153,152 bytes
File Type: EXE
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 13 Nov 2020
Payload: Connects to URLs/IPs, Hogs resources,

Arrival Details

This Potentially Unwanted Application arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Other Details

This Potentially Unwanted Application requires the following additional components to properly run:

  • {Coinminer Directory}\config.json

It does the following:

  • It accepts the following Parameters:
    • -o, --url=URL URL of mining server
    • -a, --algo=ALGO mining algorithm https://{BLOCKED}g.com/docs/algorithms
    • --coin=COIN specify coin instead of algorithm
    • -u, --user=USERNAME username for mining server
    • -p, --pass=PASSWORD password for mining server
    • -O, --userpass=U:P username:password pair for mining server
    • -x, --proxy=HOST:PORT connect through a SOCKS5 proxy
    • -k, --keepalive send keepalived packet for prevent timeout (needs pool support)
    • --nicehash enable nicehash.com support
    • --rig-id=ID rig identifier for pool-side statistics (needs pool support)
    • --tls enable SSL/TLS support (needs pool support)
    • --tls-fingerprint=HEX pool TLS certificate fingerprint for strict certificate pinning
    • --daemon use daemon RPC instead of pool for solo mining
    • --daemon-poll-interval=N daemon poll interval in milliseconds (default: 1000)
    • --self-select=URL self-select block templates from URL
    • -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)
    • --user-agent set custom user-agent string for pool
    • --donate-level=N donate level, default 1%% (1 minute in 100 minutes)
    • --donate-over-proxy=N control donate over xmrig-proxy feature
    • --no-cpu disable CPU mining backend
    • -t, --threads=N number of CPU threads
    • -v, --av=N algorithm variation, 0 auto select
    • --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)
    • --cpu-max-threads-hint=N maximum CPU threads count (in percentage) hint for autoconfig
    • --cpu-memory-pool=N number of 2 MB pages for persistent memory pool, -1 (auto), 0 (disable)
    • --cpu-no-yield prefer maximum hashrate rather than system response/stability
    • --no-huge-pages disable huge pages support
    • --asm=ASM ASM optimizations, possible values: auto, none, intel, ryzen, bulldozer
    • --argon2-impl=IMPL argon2 implementation: x86_64, SSE2, SSSE3, XOP, AVX2, AVX-512F
    • --randomx-init=N threads count to initialize RandomX dataset
    • --randomx-no-numa disable NUMA support for RandomX
    • --randomx-mode=MODE RandomX mode: auto, fast, light
    • --randomx-1gb-pages use 1GB hugepages for RandomX dataset (Linux only)
    • --randomx-wrmsr=N write custom value(s) to MSR registers or disable MSR mod (-1)
    • --randomx-no-rdmsr disable reverting initial MSR values on exit
    • --randomx-cache-qos enable Cache QoS
    • --astrobwt-max-size=N skip hashes with large stage 2 size, default: 550, min: 400, max: 1200
    • --astrobwt-avx2 enable AVX2 optimizations for AstroBWT algorithm
    • --opencl enable OpenCL mining backend
    • --opencl-devices=N comma separated list of OpenCL devices to use
    • --opencl-platform=N OpenCL platform index or name
    • --opencl-loader=PATH path to OpenCL-ICD-Loader (OpenCL.dll or libOpenCL.so)
    • --opencl-no-cache disable OpenCL cache
    • --print-platforms print available OpenCL platforms and exit
    • --cuda enable CUDA mining backend
    • --cuda-loader=PATH path to CUDA plugin (xmrig-cuda.dll or libxmrig-cuda.so)
    • --cuda-devices=N comma separated list of CUDA devices to use
    • --cuda-bfactor-hint=N bfactor hint for autoconfig (0-12)
    • --cuda-bsleep-hint=N bsleep hint for autoconfig
    • --no-nvml disable NVML (NVIDIA Management Library) support
    • --api-worker-id=ID custom worker-id for API
    • --api-id=ID custom instance ID for API
    • --http-host=HOST bind host for HTTP API (default: {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.0.1)
    • --http-port=N bind port for HTTP API
    • --http-access-token=T access token for HTTP API
    • --http-no-restricted enable full remote access to HTTP API (only if access token set)
    • --tls-gen=HOSTNAME generate TLS certificate for specific hostname
    • --tls-cert=FILE load TLS certificate chain from a file in the PEM format
    • --tls-cert-key=FILE load TLS certificate private key from a file in the PEM format
    • --tls-dhparam=FILE load DH parameters for DHE ciphers from a file in the PEM format
    • --tls-protocols=N enable specified TLS protocols, example: \"TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3\"
    • --tls-ciphers=S set list of available ciphers (TLSv1.2 and below)
    • --tls-ciphersuites=S set list of available TLSv1.3 ciphersuites
    • -l, --log-file=FILE log all output to a file
    • --print-time=N print hashrate report every N seconds
    • --health-print-time=N print health report every N seconds
    • --no-color disable colored output
    • --verbose verbose output
    • -c, --config=FILE load a JSON-format configuration file
    • -B, --background run the miner in the background
    • -V, --version output version information and exit
    • -h, --help display this help and exit
    • --dry-run test configuration and exit
    • --export-topology export hwloc topology to a XML file and exit
    • --title set custom console window title
    • --no-title disable setting console window title
    • --pause-on-battery pause mine on battery power
    • --stress run continuous stress test to check system stability
    • --bench=N run benchmark in offline mode, N can be between 1M and 10M
    • --help display this help and exit
    • --version output version information and exit
    • --export-topology export hwloc topology to a XML file and exit
    • --print-platforms print available OpenCL platforms and exit

  • Supported algorithm options:
    • argon2/chukwa
    • argon2/chukwav2
    • argon2/wrkz
    • astrobwt
    • astrobwt/dero
    • chukwa
    • chukwav2
    • cryptonight
    • cryptonight-aeonv7
    • cryptonight-bittube2
    • cryptonight-heavy
    • cryptonight-heavy/0
    • cryptonight-heavy/tube
    • cryptonight-heavy/xhv
    • cryptonight-light
    • cryptonight-lite
    • cryptonight-lite/0
    • cryptonight-lite/1
    • cryptonight-monerov7
    • cryptonight-monerov8
    • cryptonight-pico
    • cryptonight-pico/tlo
    • cryptonight-pico/trtl
    • cryptonight-talleo
    • cryptonight-turtle
    • cryptonight-ultralite
    • cryptonight/0
    • cryptonight/1
    • cryptonight/2
    • cryptonight/ccx
    • cryptonight/conceal
    • cryptonight/double
    • cryptonight/fast
    • cryptonight/gpu
    • cryptonight/half
    • cryptonight/msr
    • cryptonight/r
    • cryptonight/rto
    • cryptonight/rwz
    • cryptonight/ultra
    • cryptonight/xao
    • cryptonight/zls
    • cryptonight_alloy
    • cryptonight_gpu
    • cryptonight_haven
    • cryptonight_lite_v7
    • cryptonight_r
    • cryptonight_talleo
    • cryptonight_turtle
    • cryptonight_v7
    • cryptonight_v8
    • kawpow
    • kawpow/rvn
    • panthera
    • RandomARQ
    • RandomKEVA
    • RandomSFX
    • RandomWOW
    • RandomX
    • randomx/0
    • randomx/arq
    • randomx/keva
    • randomx/sfx
    • randomx/test
    • randomx/wow

  • Supported coin options:
    • monero
    • arqma
    • dero
    • keva
    • ravencoin
    • conceal
  • It connects to the following mining pool:
    • mine.{BLOCKED}l.com:13333
    • {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.73.178:13333
    • {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.4.91:13333
    • {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.195.181.vultr.com:13333

It uses the system's central processing unit (CPU) and/or graphical processing unit (GPU) resources to mine cryptocurrency. This behavior makes the system run abnormally slow.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.800
SSAPI PATTERN File: 2.355.00
SSAPI PATTERN Date: 26 Nov 2020

Step 1

Trend Micro Predictive Machine Learning detects and blocks malware at the first sign of its existence, before it executes on your system. When enabled, your Trend Micro product detects this malware under the following machine learning name:

     
    • Troj.Win32.TRX.XXPE50FFF038

Step 2

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 3

Identify and terminate files detected as PUA.Win64.XMRig.KBD

[ 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

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as PUA.Win64.XMRig.KBD. 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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