ADW_MULTIPLUG.GH

 Analysis by: Pearl Charlaine Espejo

 ALIASES:

Adware.Win32.MultiPlug.MXad (Baidu-International); PUP/Win32.MultiPlug (AhnLab-V3); a variant of Win32/Adware.MultiPlug.ND (ESET-NOD32); Riskware/MultiPlug (Fortinet); BrowserModifier:Win32/Diplugem (Microsoft)

 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 may arrive bundled with malware packages as a malware component. 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 manually installed by a user.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

889,344 bytes

File Type:

DLL

Memory Resident:

No

Initial Samples Received Date:

03 Sep 2015

Arrival Details

This adware may arrive bundled with malware packages as a malware component.

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 manually installed by a user.

Installation

This adware drops the following files:

  • %User Temp%\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}.dat

(Note: %User Temp% is the user's temporary folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp 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.)

Other System Modifications

This adware adds the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Browser Helper Objects\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}

It adds the following registry entries:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\
CLSID\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}
= "MiinimumPricE"

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\
CLSID\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}\InprocServer32
= "{malware path and filename}"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Browser Helper Objects\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}
= "MiinimumPricE"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Browser Helper Objects\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}
NoExplorer = "1"

Other Details

This adware requires the following additional components to properly run:

  • {malware path}\{malware filename}.dat

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.750

SSAPI PATTERN File:

1.657.00

SSAPI PATTERN Date:

10 Sep 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

Delete this registry key

[ Learn More ]

Important: Editing the Windows Registry incorrectly can lead to irreversible system malfunction. Please do this step only if you know how or you can ask assistance from your system administrator. Else, check this Microsoft article first before modifying your computer's registry.

  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects
    • {ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}
  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID
    • {ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}

Step 4

Search and delete this file

[ 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.
  • {malware path}\{malware filename}.dat
  • %User Temp%\{ABC10A9C-D87C-43EB-9E2D-105118D3CCD9}.dat

Step 5

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


Did this description help? Tell us how we did.