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Coinminer.Win32.MALXMR.TIAOODBP

March 13, 2019
 Analysis by: Jay Bradley Nebre
 ALIASES:

Trojan:Win32/Occamy.C(Microsoft); Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent(Ikarus); a variant of Win32/TrojanDropper.Agent.SCL trojan(NOD32)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Coinminer

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: No

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel:

Downloaded from the Internet, Dropped by other malware


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 uses the system's central processing unit (CPU) and/or graphical processing unit (GPU) resources to mine cryptocurrency.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

1,634,984 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

08 Mar 2019

Payload:

Drops files, 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 drops and executes the following files:

  • %Application Data%{8characters based from user name}.exe

(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, 7, and 8.)

Other Details

This Coinminer connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

  • {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.99.49
  • lpp.{BLOCKED}y.com:443
  • lpp.{BLOCKED}h.com:443
  • lpp.{BLOCKED}o.net:443

It accepts the following parameters:

  • -a, --algo=ALGO specify the algorithm to use( cryptonight, cryptonight-lite, cryptonight-heavy)
  • -o, --url=URL URL of mining server
  • -O, --userpass=U:P username:password pair for mining server
  • -u, --user=USERNAME username for mining server
  • -p, --pass=PASSWORD password for mining server
  • --rig-id=ID rig identifier for pool-side statistics (needs pool support)
  • -t, --threads=N number of miner threads
  • -v, --av=N algorithm variation, 0 auto select
  • -k, --keepalive send keepalived packet for prevent timeout (needs pool support)
  • --nicehash enable nicehash.com support
  • --tls enable SSL/TLS support (needs pool support)
  • --tls-fingerprint=F pool TLS certificate fingerprint, if set enable strict certificate pinning
  • -r, --retries=N number of times to retry before switch to backup server (default: 5)
  • -R, --retry-pause=N time to pause between retries (default: 5)
  • --cpu-affinity set process affinity to CPU core(s), mask 0x3 for cores 0 and 1
  • --cpu-priority set process priority (0 idle, 2 normal to 5 highest)
  • --no-huge-pages disable huge pages support
  • --no-color disable colored output
  • --variant algorithm PoW variant
  • --donate-level=N donate level, default 5% (5 minutes in 100 minutes)
  • --user-agent set custom user-agent string for pool
  • -B, --background run the miner in the background
  • -c, --config=FILE load a JSON-format configuration file
  • -l, --log-file=FILE log all output to a file
  • -S, --syslog use system log for output messages
  • --max-cpu-usage=N maximum CPU usage for automatic threads mode (default 75)
  • --safe safe adjust threads and av settings for current CPU
  • --asm=ASM ASM code for cn/2, possible values: auto, none, intel, ryzen.
  • --print-time=N print hashrate report every N seconds
  • --api-port=N port for the miner API
  • --api-access-token=T access token for API
  • --api-worker-id=ID custom worker-id for API
  • --api-id=ID custom instance ID for API
  • --api-ipv6 enable IPv6 support for API
  • --api-no-restricted enable full remote access (only if API token set)
  • --dry-run test configuration and exit
  • -h, --help display this help and exit
  • -V, --version output version information and exit

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:

14.864.05

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE:

08 Mar 2019

VSAPI OPR PATTERN File:

14.865.00

VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date:

09 Mar 2019

Step 1

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 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

Identify and terminate files detected as Coinminer.Win32.MALXMR.TIAOODBP

[ 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 4

Search and delete these files

[ 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.  
  • %Application Data%{8characters based from user name}.exe

Step 5

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as Coinminer.Win32.MALXMR.TIAOODBP. 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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