Analysis by: Pearl Charlaine Espejo
ALIASES:

PWS:Win32/Dyzap.N (Microsoft); Troj/DwnLdr-MKU (Sophos); Spyware.Dyre (Malwarebytes); Trojan.Win32.Inject.sbup (Kaspersky)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

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

  • Threat Type: Spyware

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This spyware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It deletes itself after execution.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 348,672 bytes
File Type: EXE
Initial Samples Received Date: 09 Apr 2015

Arrival Details

This spyware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Installation

This spyware drops the following files:

  • %System%\config\systemprofile\Application Data\ne9bzef6m8.dll (for Windows XP and lower)
  • %AppDataLocal%\ne9bzef6m8.dll (for Windows Vista and higher)

(Note: %System% is the Windows system folder, where it usually is C:\Windows\System32 on all Windows operating system versions.. %AppDataLocal% is the Application Data folder found in Local Settings, where it is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Application Data on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local 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 drops the following copies of itself into the affected system:

  • %Windows%\{random filename}.exe (for Windows XP and lower)
  • %AppDataLocal%\{random filename}.exe (for Vista and higher)

(Note: %Windows% is the Windows folder, where it usually is C:\Windows on all Windows operating system versions.. %AppDataLocal% is the Application Data folder found in Local Settings, where it is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Application Data on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local 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.)

Autostart Technique

This spyware 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\googleupdate
ImagePath = "%Windows%\{random Filename}.exe"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\googleupdate
DisplayName = "Google Update Service"

It adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
GoogleUpdate = "%AppDataLocal%\{random filename}.exe"

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\googleupdate (for Windows XP and lower)

Other Details

This spyware connects to the following possibly malicious URL:

  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.27.63:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.63.46:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.201.9:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.24.229:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.0.153:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.123.22:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.172.215:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.152.131:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.34.192:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.34.203:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.117.68:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.190.167:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.190.183:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.190.84:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.191.144:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.191.213:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.255.131:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.206.204:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.243.60:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.54.111:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.115.88:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.66.69:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.185.114:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.101.221:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.253.52:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.48.149:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.48.184:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.48.97:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.49.128:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.23.130:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.69.159:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.69.172:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.204.114:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.34.34:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.34.137:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.165.229:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.249.207:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.145.129:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.47.200:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.239.126:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.131.81:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.157.139:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.74.70:443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.53.142:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.178.46:4443
  • http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.88.84:4443

It deletes itself after execution.