WORM_VOBFUS.TR

 Analysis by: Rhena Inocencio

 ALIASES:

Worm:Win32/Vobfus (Microsoft)

 PLATFORM:

Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit)

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

  • Threat Type: Worm

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This worm arrives by connecting affected removable drives to a system. 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 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:

229,376 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

03 Jan 2013

Arrival Details

This worm arrives by connecting affected removable drives to a system.

It arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Installation

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

  • %User Profile%\{random file name}.exe
  • %User Profile%\Passwords.exe
  • %User Profile%\Porn.exe
  • %User Profile%\Secret.exe
  • %User Profile%\Sexy.exe

(Note: %User Profile% is the current user's profile folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name} on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name} on Windows Vista and 7.)

It drops the following files:

  • {drive letter}:\x.mpeg

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 file name}.exe = "%User Profile%\{random file name}.exe /{random character}"

Other System Modifications

This worm adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\
Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\
AU
NoAutoUpdate = "1"

It modifies the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced
ShowSuperHidden = "0"

(Note: The default value data of the said registry entry is 1.)

Propagation

This worm drops the following copy(ies) of itself in all removable drives:

  • {drive letter}:\{random file name}.exe
  • {drive letter}:\Passwords.exe
  • {drive letter}:\Porn.exe
  • {drive letter}:\Secret.exe
  • {drive letter}:\Sexy.exe
  • {drive letter}:\{folder name}.exe

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

NOTES:

It uses the filenames of files with the following extensions:

  • .avi
  • .bmp
  • .doc
  • .gif
  • .jpe
  • .jpg
  • .mp3
  • .mp4
  • .mpg
  • .pdf
  • .png
  • .tif
  • .txt
  • .wav
  • .wma
  • .wmv
  • .xls

It then sets the attribute of the original folder to Hidden and System to trick users into thinking that the dropped copy is the legitimate folder.