JS_MORPHE.LDM

This worm arrives via removable drives. 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 may be hosted on a website and run when a user accesses the said website.

It drops copies of itself into all the removable drives connected to an affected system.

Arrival Details

This worm arrives via removable drives.

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 may be hosted on a website and run when a user accesses the said website.

Installation

This worm drops the following copies of itself into the affected system:

• %All Users Profile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\{Random}.js
• %System Root%\Documents and Settings\Default User\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\{Random}.js
• %System Root%\Users\Default User\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\{Random}.js
• %User Startup%\{Random}.js
• %Application Data%\{Random}\{Random}.js
• %Program Files%\{Random}\{Random}.js

(Note: %All Users Profile% is the All Users or Common profile folder, which is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users in Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, and C:\ProgramData in Windows Vista and 7.. %System Root% is the root folder, which is usually C:\. It is also where the operating system is located.. %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Windows\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 98 and ME, C:\WINNT\Profiles\{user name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows NT, and C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.. %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista and 7.. %Program Files% is the default Program Files folder, usually C:\Program Files in Windows 2000, Server 2003, and XP (32-bit), Vista (32-bit), and 7 (32-bit), or C:\Program Files (x86) in Windows XP (64-bit), Vista (64-bit), and 7 (64-bit).)

It drops the following copies of itself depending on the platform/operating system of the affected computer:

• %System Root%\Documents and Settings\Default User\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\{Random}.js - Windows XP / 2000
• %System Root%\Users\Default User\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\{Random}.js - Windows Vista/7/8

(Note: %System Root% is the root folder, which is usually C:\. It is also where the operating system is located.)

Autostart Technique

This worm adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
{Random} = %Application Data%\{Random}\{Random}.js

Other System Modifications

This worm adds the following registry entries as part of its installation routine:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer
NoWindowsUpdate = "1"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer
NoControlPanel = "1"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer
NofolderOptions = "1"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\
Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel
HomePage = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Security Center\Svc
AntiVirusDisableNotify = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Security Center\Svc
FirewallOverride = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Security Center\Svc
FirewallDisableNotify = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\policies
DisableCMD = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\policies
NoDispCPL = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\policies
DisableRegistryTools = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\policies
DisableTaskMgr = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion
SystemRestoreDisableSR = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\
Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel
HomePage = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\
Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore
DisableConfig = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\
FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile
EnableFirewall = "0"

Propagation

This worm drops copies of itself into all the removable drives connected to an affected system.