Analysis by: Joshua Paul Ignacio
ALIASES:

Trojan:Win32/Sminager.E (MICROSOFT), W32/Bitcoin_Miner.DN (FORTINET)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

 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

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: 711,680 bytes
File Type: EXE
Memory Resident: No
Initial Samples Received Date: 03 Nov 2017

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 accepts the following parameters:

  • -a, --algo=ALGO cryptonight (default) or cryptonight-lite
    -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)
    --cpu-affinity set process affinity to CPU core(s), mask 0x3 for cores0 and 1
    --cpu-priority set process priority (0 idle, 2 normal to 5 highest)
    --no-huge-pages disable huge pages support
    --no-color disable colored output
    --donate-level=N donate level, default 5% (5 minutes in 100 minutes)
    --user-agent set custom user-agent string for pool
    -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
    --max-cpu-usage=N maximum CPU usage for automatic threads mode (default 75)
    --safe safe adjust threads and av settings for current CPU
    --nicehash enable nicehash support
    --print-time=N print hashrate report every N seconds
    -h, --help display this help and exit
    -V, --version output version information and exit
  • The coinminer also accepts the following configuration files: {Coinminer Directory}\config.json

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: 15.646.03
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 26 Aug 2017
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 15.645.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 27 Aug 2017

Step 1

Before doing any scans, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 users must disable System Restore to allow full scanning of their computers.

Step 2

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as Coinminer.Win32.TOOLXMR.VJODM. 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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