Analysis by: Anthony Joe Melgarejo
ALIASES:

Win32/UnlimitedDownloads.A (ESET)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Adware

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This adware arrives as a component bundled with malware/grayware packages. It may be manually installed by a user.

It creates folders where it drops its files.

It comes with an uninstall package that completely removes the files it dropped and the registries it created.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 166,872 bytes
File Type: EXE
Initial Samples Received Date: 20 Oct 2014

Arrival Details

This adware arrives as a component bundled with malware/grayware packages.

It may be manually installed by a user.

Installation

This adware drops the following files:

  • %User Temp%\_{11 random alphanumeric numbers 1}.bat
  • %User Temp%\_{11 random alphanumeric numbers 2}.bat
  • %User Temp%\_{11 random alphanumeric numbers 3}.bat
  • %User Temp%\_{11 random alphanumeric numbers 4}.bat

(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.)

It creates the following folders:

  • %Program Files%\Common Files\DealAlly
  • %Program Files%\Common Files\Diagnostics

(Note: %Program Files% is the Program Files folder, where it usually is C:\Program Files on all Windows operating system versions; C:\Program Files (x86) for 32-bit applications running on Windows 64-bit operating systems.)

Autostart Technique

This adware registers itself as a system service to ensure its automatic execution at every system startup by adding the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
Type = "10"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
Start = "2"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
ErrorControl = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
ImagePath = ""%Program Files%\Common Files\Diagnostics\node\service.exe" -s "%Program Files%\Common Files\Diagnostics\node\diagnostics.js""

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
DisplayName = "Diagnostics"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
ObjectName = "LocalSystem"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics
Description = "Diagnostics service"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
Type = "10"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
Start = "2"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
ErrorControl = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
ImagePath = ""%Program Files%\Common Files\Diagnostics\node\service.exe" -s "%Program Files%\Common Files\Diagnostics\node\proxy_master.js""

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
DisplayName = "Proxy"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
ObjectName = "LocalSystem"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy
Description = "Proxy service"

It registers as a system service to ensure its automatic execution at every system startup by adding the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Diagnostics

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
services\Proxy

Other System Modifications

This adware adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\
Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
ProxyServer = "127.0.0.1:5050"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\
Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
ProxyEnable = "1"

It adds the following registry keys as part of its installation routine:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall\DealAlly

Other Details

This adware adds the following registry entries to add an uninstall option to the Control Panel:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall\DealAlly
DisplayName = "DealAlly"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall\DealAlly
UninstallString = "%Program Files%\Common Files\DealAlly\uninst.exe"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall\DealAlly
DisplayVersion = "1"

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall\DealAlly
Publisher = "Jet Applications"

It comes with an uninstall package that completely removes the files it dropped and the registries it added.

NOTES:

This adware uses its created folders to drop its installation component files.