WORM_PALEVO.WPD

 Analysis by: Nikko Tamana

 ALIASES:

W32/Injector.AWY!tr (Fortinet), W32/FraudLoad.B.gen!Eldorado (FProt), Net-Worm.Win32.Kolab (Ikarus), P2P-Worm.Win32.Palevo.bpio (Kaspersky), Worm:Win32/Rimecud.B (Microsoft), Win32/Peerfrag.EC worm (NOD32), W32.Pilleuz (Norton), W32/P2Pworm.GA (Panda)

 PLATFORM:

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

365,063 bytes

File Type:

EXE

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

11 Jun 2013

Arrival Details

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

Installation

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

  • %System Root%\RECYCLER\{random SID}\MsMxEng.exe

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

Autostart Technique

This worm adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Taskman = "%System Root%\RECYCLER\{random SID}\MsMxEng.exe"

Propagation

This worm creates the following folders in all removable drives:

  • {Drive letter}:\usecure

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

  • {Drive letter}:\usecure\usecure32.exe

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

The said .INF file contains the following strings:

{random characters}
[autorun
{random characters}
open=usecure/usecure32.exe
{random characters}
icon=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll,4
{random characters}
action=Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer
{random characters}
USEAUToplay=1
{random characters}
shell\\open\\\\command=usecure/usecure32.exe
{random characters}
shell\\\explore\\command=usecure/usecure32.exe
{random characters}

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.300

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE:

9.980.04

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE:

13 Jun 2013

VSAPI OPR PATTERN File:

9.981.00

VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date:

14 Jun 2013

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

Identify and delete files detected as WORM_PALEVO.WPD using either the Startup Disk or Recovery Console

[ Learn More ]

Step 3

Delete this registry value

[ 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 NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
    • Taskman=%System Root%\RECYCLER\{random SID}\MsMxEng.exe

Step 4

Search and delete this folder

[ Learn More ]
Please make sure you check the Search Hidden Files and Folders checkbox in the More advanced options option to include all hidden folders in the search result.
  • {Drive letter}:\usecure

Step 5

Search and delete AUTORUN.INF files created by WORM_PALEVO.WPD that contain these strings

[ Learn More ]
{random characters}
[autorun
{random characters}
open=usecure/usecure32.exe
{random characters}
icon=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll,4
{random characters}
action=Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer
{random characters}
USEAUToplay=1
{random characters}
shell\\\\open\\\\\\\\command=usecure/usecure32.exe
{random characters}
shell\\\\\\explore\\\\command=usecure/usecure32.exe
{random characters}

Step 6

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as WORM_PALEVO.WPD. 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.


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