RANSOM_HPCERBER.SM6

This malware is a variant of malware family CERBER discovered late November 2016, and has been found to be sporting routines that seek out database processes in the affected system. This is believed to enhance its ability to target and infect machines used by businesses.

To get a one-glance comprehensive view of the behavior of this Trojan, refer to the Threat Diagram shown below.

This Trojan may be downloaded by other malware/grayware/spyware from remote sites.

It deletes the initially executed copy of itself.

Arrival Details

This Trojan may be downloaded by other malware/grayware/spyware from remote sites.

Installation

This Trojan drops the following files:

• {folders containing encrypted files}\README.hta
• %User Temp%\{random file name}.bmp

(Note: %User Temp% is the user's temporary folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit), Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.)

Other System Modifications

This Trojan adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Wallpaper = %User Temp%\{random file name}.bmp

Process Termination

This Trojan terminates the following processes if found running in the affected system's memory:

• msftesql.exe
• sqlagent.exe
• sqlbrowser.exe
• sqlservr.exe
• sqlwriter.exe
• oracle.exe
• ocssd.exe
• dbsnmp.exe
• synctime.exe
• mydesktopqos.exe
• agntsvc.exeisqlplussvc.exe
• xfssvccon.exe
• mydesktopservice.exe
• ocautoupds.exe
• agntsvc.exeagntsvc.exe
• agntsvc.exeencsvc.exe
• firefoxconfig.exe
• tbirdconfig.exe
• ocomm.exe
• mysqld.exe
• mysqld-nt.exe
• mysqld-opt.exe
• dbeng50.exe
• sqbcoreservice.exe

Information Theft

This Trojan gathers the following data:

• MD5_KEY
• PARTNER_ID
• OS
• IS_X64
• IS_ADMIN
• COUNT_FILES
• STOP_REASON

Other Details

This Trojan encrypts files with the following extensions:

• .accdb
• .mdb
• .mdf
• .dbf
• .vpd
• .sdf
• .sqlitedb
• .sqlite3
• .sqlite
• .sql
• .sdb
• .doc
• .docx
• .odt
• .xls
• .xlsx
• .ods
• .ppt
• .pptx
• .odp
• .pst
• .dbx
• .wab
• .tbk
• .pps
• .ppsx
• .pdf
• .jpg
• .tif
• .pub
• .one
• .rtf
• .csv
• .docm
• .xlsm
• .pptm
• .ppsm
• .xlsb
• .dot
• .dotx
• .dotm
• .xlt
• .xltx
• .xltm
• .pot
• .potx
• .potm
• .xps
• .wps
• .xla
• .xlam
• .erbsql
• .sqlite-shm
• .sqlite-wal
• .litesql
• .ndf
• .ost
• .pab
• .oab
• .contact
• .jnt
• .mapimail
• .msg
• .prf
• .rar
• .txt
• .xml
• .zip
• .1cd
• .3ds
• .3g2
• .3gp
• .7z
• .7zip
• .aoi
• .asf
• .asp
• .aspx
• .asx
• .avi
• .bak
• .cer
• .cfg
• .class
• .config
• .css
• .dds
• .dwg
• .dxf
• .flf
• .flv
• .html
• .idx
• .js
• .key
• .kwm
• .laccdb
• .ldf
• .lit
• .m3u
• .mbx
• .md
• .mid
• .mlb
• .mov
• .mp3
• .mp4
• .mpg
• .obj
• .pages
• .php
• .psd
• .pwm
• .rm
• .safe
• .sav
• .save
• .srt
• .swf
• .thm
• .vob
• .wav
• .wma
• .wmv
• .3dm
• .aac
• .ai
• .arw
• .c
• .cdr
• .cls
• .cpi
• .cpp
• .cs
• .db3
• .drw
• .dxb
• .eps
• .fla
• .flac
• .fxg
• .java
• .m
• .m4v
• .max
• .pcd
• .pct
• .pl
• .ppam
• .ps
• .pspimage
• .r3d
• .rw2
• .sldm
• .sldx
• .svg
• .tga
• .xlm
• .xlr
• .xlw
• .act
• .adp
• .al
• .bkp
• .blend
• .cdf
• .cdx
• .cgm
• .cr2
• .crt
• .dac
• .dcr
• .ddd
• .design
• .dtd
• .fdb
• .fff
• .fpx
• .h
• .iif
• .indd
• .jpeg
• .mos
• .nd
• .nsd
• .nsf
• .nsg
• .nsh
• .odc
• .oil
• .pas
• .pat
• .pef
• .pfx
• .ptx
• .qbb
• .qbm
• .sas7bdat
• .say
• .st4
• .st6
• .stc
• .sxc
• .sxw
• .tlg
• .wad
• .xlk
• .aiff
• .bin
• .bmp
• .cmt
• .dat
• .dit
• .edb
• .flvv
• .gif
• .groups
• .hdd
• .hpp
• .m2ts
• .m4p
• .mkv
• .mpeg
• .nvram
• .ogg
• .pdb
• .pif
• .png
• .qed
• .qcow
• .qcow2
• .rvt
• .st7
• .stm
• .vbox
• .vdi
• .vhd
• .vhdx
• .vmdk
• .vmsd
• .vmx
• .vmxf
• .3fr
• .3pr
• .ab4
• .accde
• .accdr
• .accdt
• .ach
• .acr
• .adb
• .ads
• .agdl
• .ait
• .apj
• .asm
• .awg
• .back
• .backup
• .backupdb
• .bank
• .bay
• .bdb
• .bgt
• .bik
• .bpw
• .cdr3
• .cdr4
• .cdr5
• .cdr6
• .cdrw
• .ce1
• .ce2
• .cib
• .craw
• .crw
• .csh
• .csl
• .db_journal
• .dc2
• .dcs
• .ddoc
• .ddrw
• .der
• .des
• .dgc
• .djvu
• .dng
• .drf
• .dxg
• .eml
• .erf
• .exf
• .ffd
• .fh
• .fhd
• .gray
• .grey
• .gry
• .hbk
• .ibank
• .ibd
• .ibz
• .iiq
• .incpas
• .jpe
• .kc2
• .kdbx
• .kdc
• .kpdx
• .lua
• .mdc
• .mef
• .mfw
• .mmw
• .mny
• .moneywell
• .mrw
• .myd
• .ndd
• .nef
• .nk2
• .nop
• .nrw
• .ns2
• .ns3
• .ns4
• .nwb
• .nx2
• .nxl
• .nyf
• .odb
• .odf
• .odg
• .odm
• .orf
• .otg
• .oth
• .otp
• .ots
• .ott
• .p12
• .p7b
• .p7c
• .pdd
• .mts
• .plus_muhd
• .plc
• .psafe3
• .py
• .qba
• .qbr
• .qbw
• .qbx
• .qby
• .raf
• .rat
• .raw
• .rdb
• .rwl
• .rwz
• .s3db
• .sd0
• .sda
• .sr2
• .srf
• .srw
• .st5
• .st8
• .std
• .sti
• .stw
• .stx
• .sxd
• .sxg
• .sxi
• .sxm
• .tex
• .wallet
• .wb2
• .wpd
• .x11
• .x3f
• .xis
• .ycbcra
• .yuv
• .mab
• .json
• .msf
• .jar
• .cdb
• .srb
• .abd
• .qtb
• .cfn
• .info
• .info_
• .flb
• .def
• .atb
• .tbn
• .tbb
• .tlx
• .pml
• .pmo
• .pnx
• .pnc
• .pmi
• .pmm
• .lck
• .pm!
• .pmr
• .usr
• .pnd
• .pmj
• .pm
• .lock
• .srs
• .pbf
• .omg
• .wmf
• .sh
• .war
• .ascx
• .k2p
• .apk
• .asset
• .bsa
• .d3dbsp
• .das
• .forge
• .iwi
• .lbf
• .litemod
• .ltx
• .m4a
• .re4
• .slm
• .tiff
• .upk
• .xxx
• .money
• .cash
• .private
• .cry
• .vsd
• .tax
• .gbr
• .dgn
• .stl
• .gho
• .ma
• .acc
• .db

It renames encrypted files using the following names:

• {10 Random Characters}.{4 Random}

It does the following:

• It avoids encrypting the following files:
  • bootsect.bak
  • iconcache.db
  • ntuser.dat
  • thumbs.db
• It skips to encrypt the following paths:
  :\$recycle.bin\
  • :\$windows.~bt\
  • :\boot\
  • :\documents and settings\all users\
  • :\documents and settings\default user\
  • :\documents and settings\localservice\
  • :\documents and settings\networkservice\
  • :\program files\
  • :\program files (x86)\
  • :\programdata\
  • :\recovery\
  • :\recycler\
  • :\users\all users\
  • :\windows\
  • :\windows.old\
  • \appdata\local\
  • \appdata\locallow\
  • \appdata\roaming\adobe\flash player\
  • \appData\roaming\apple computer\safari\
  • \appdata\roaming\ati\
  • \appdata\roaming\intel\
  • \appdata\roaming\intel corporation\
  • \appdata\roaming\google\
  • \appdata\roaming\macromedia\flash player\
  • \appdata\roaming\mozilla\
  • \appdata\roaming\nvidia\
  • \appdata\roaming\opera\
  • \appdata\roaming\opera software\
  • \appdata\roaming\microsoft\internet explorer\
  • \appdata\roaming\microsoft\windows\
  • \application data\microsoft\
  • \local settings\
  • \public\music\sample music\
  • \public\pictures\sample pictures\
  • \public\videos\sample videos\
  • \tor browser\
• It deletes all shadow copies by executing the following command:
  • WMIC.exe shadowcopy delete
• It sends and receives data via port 6892 using following IP range:
  • {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.16.0/22:6892
• It speaks the following message:
  • Attention! Attention! Attention!Your documents, photos, databases and other important files have been encrypted!

It deletes the initially executed copy of itself

NOTES:

This ransomware changes the wallpaper with the following image:

It also displays the following ransom note:

It searches for the following strings to skip the file path exception list