Coinminer.Win64.MALXMR.TIAOODCW

February 10, 2020
 Analysis by: Paul Steven Nadera
 Modified by: Karen Ivy Titiwa
 ALIASES:

Trojan:Win32/DefenseEvasion!rfn (MICROSOFT); HEUR:Trojan.Win32.Miner.gen (KASPERSKEY)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Coinminer

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel:

Dropped by other malware, Downloaded from the Internet

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

It requires being executed with a specific argument/parameter, an additional component, or in a specific environment in order to proceed with its intended routine. It uses the system's central processing unit (CPU) and/or graphical processing unit (GPU) resources to mine cryptocurrency.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

1,913,856 bytes

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

22 Jan 2020

Payload:

Others, Connects to URLs/IPs

Arrival Details

This Coinminer 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 Coinminer adds the following mutexes to ensure that only one of its copies runs at any one time:

  • {B8A7AE22-7F59-CDE5-71F9C2A}
  • {FA4C20F1-97FC-ED6B-0B488E9}

Other Details

This Coinminer does the following:

  • Connects to the following URL for coinmining activities:
    • bit.p{BLOCKED}.com
  • Format of the executed command
    • -v {algorithm} -o {CnC} -u {username} -p {password} -t {number of CPU threads} --randomx-init={thread count} --donate-level={number} --nicehash
  • It uses the following details for its coinmining routine
    • Username:E_1_2G
    • Password:x
    • Agent:xxxxx/0.0.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64) libuv/{libuv version} msvc/{msvc version}
    • Algorithm: cn/1, cn/2, cn/r, cn/fast, cn/half, cn/xao, cn/rto, cn/rwz, cn/zls, cn/double

It requires being executed with a specific argument/parameter, an additional component, or in a specific environment in order to proceed with its intended routine.

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:

9.850

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE:

15.636.05

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE:

22 Jan 2020

VSAPI OPR PATTERN File:

15.637.00

VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date:

23 Jan 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.XXPE50FFF034

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

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 4

Identify and terminate files detected as Coinminer.Win64.MALXMR.TIAOODCW

[ 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 5

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as Coinminer.Win64.MALXMR.TIAOODCW. 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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