JS_MORPHE.SM1

June 15, 2013

Analysis by: Anthony Joe Melgarejo

ALIASES:

Worm:JS/Proslikefan.gen!E (Microsoft), Troj/ObfJS-EF (Sophos)

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 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 enables its automatic execution at every system startup by dropping copies of itself into the Windows Common Startup folder.

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:

48,820 bytes

File Type:

Memory Resident:

Initial Samples Received Date:

30 May 2013

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.

Installation

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

%Application Data%\{random folder name 2}\{random file name 1}.js
%Program Files%{random folder name 3}\{random file name 2}.js

(Note: %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 files:

%System Root%\{random folder name 1}\{random 1}
%System Root%\{random folder name 1}\{random 2}
%System Root%\{random folder name 1}\{random 3}
%System Root%\{random folder name 1}\{random 4}
%System Root%\{random folder name 1}\{random 5}
%User Temp%\{random file name}

(Note: %System Root% is the root folder, which is usually C:\. It is also where the operating system is located.. %User Temp% is the current user's Temp folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows Vista and 7.)

It creates the following folders:

%System Root%\{random folder name 1}
%Application Data%\{random folder name 2}
%Program Files%\{random folder name 3}

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

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 folder name 2}\{random file name 1}.js"

It enables its automatic execution at every system startup by dropping the following copies of itself into the Windows Common Startup folder:

%User Startup%\{random file name 1}.js
%All Users Profile%\Startup\{random file name 2}.js
{Other Users' Profile}\Startup\{random file name 3}.js - the number of instances depends on the number of other user profiles in the affected system

(Note: %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.. %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.)

Other System Modifications

This worm adds the following registry entries:

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\
Security Center\Svc
AntivirusDisableNotify = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced
Hidden = "2"

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

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

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

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

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

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

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\
Microsoft\MRT
DontReportInfectionInformation = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\
Microsoft\Windows NT\System Restore
DisableConfig = "1"

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

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

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

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

It modifies the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Security Center
AntivirusDisableNotify = "1"