COINMINER_TOOLBTC.A-ELF64

March 19, 2018
 Analysis by: Rheniel Rhay Ramos
 ALIASES:

ELF:BitCoinMiner-AK [PUP] (AVG); Application.Linux.BitCoinMiner.I (Bitdefender); PUA/CoinMiner.ofgui (Avira)

 PLATFORM:

Linux

 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:

178,941 bytes

File Type:

ELF

Memory Resident:

No

Initial Samples Received Date:

04 Feb 2018

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.

Other Details

This Coinminer does the following:

  • It accepts the following parameters:
    • -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
    • --cert=FILE -> certificate for mining server using SSL
    • -x, --proxy=[PROTOCOL://]HOST[:PORT] -> connect through a proxy
    • -t, --threads=N -> number of miner threads (default: number of processors)
    • -r, --retries=N -> number of times to retry if a network call fails (default: retry indefinitely)
    • -R, --retry-pause=N -> time to pause between retries, in seconds (default: 30)
    • -T, --timeout=N -> timeout for long polling, in seconds (default: none)
    • -s, --scantime=N -> upper bound on time spent scanning current work when long polling is unavailable, in seconds (default: 5)
    • --no-longpoll -> disable X-Long-Polling support
    • --no-stratum -> disable X-Stratum support
    • --no-redirect -> ignore requests to change the URL of the mining server
    • -q, --quiet -> disable per-thread hashmeter output
    • -D, --debug -> enable debug output
    • -P, --protocol-dump -> verbose dump of protocol-level activities
    • -S, --syslog -> use system log for output messages
    • -B, --background -> run the miner in the background
    • --benchmark -> run in offline benchmark mode
    • -c, --config=FILE -> load a JSON-format configuration file
    • -V, --version -> display version information and exit
    • -h, --help -> display this help text 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:

14.114.04

FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE:

07 Mar 2018

VSAPI OPR PATTERN File:

14.115.00

VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date:

08 Mar 2018

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

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_TOOLBTC.A-ELF64

[ 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

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as COINMINER_TOOLBTC.A-ELF64. 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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