Analysis by: Robert Nicole Malagad

ALIASES:

HEUR:RiskTool.Win32.Generic (Kaspersky), Riskware/CoinMiner (Fortinet)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Coinminer

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: Yes

  • 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.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 266,240 bytes
File Type: EXE
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 28 Jun 2018
Payload: Others

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:
    • -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
    • -t, --threads=N number of miner threads
    • -v, --av=N algorithm variation, 0 auto select
    • -k, --keepalive send keepalived for prevent timeout (need pool support)
    • -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)
    • -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
    • -h, --help display this help and exit
    • -V, --version output version information and exit
  • This is a coin miner used to generate bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and it requires credentials for the mining server.
  • It uses the system's central processing unit (CPU) resources to mine for cryptocurrency. This behavior makes the system run abnormally slow.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.850
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE: 14.544.04
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 04 Oct 2018
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 14.545.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 05 Oct 2018

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as COINMINER.WIN32.MALXMR.THAOODAH. 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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