Analysis by: Anthony Joe Melgarejo
ALIASES:

Spyware.Keylogger (Symantec), PWS-Gina (McAfee), Mal/Behav-160 (Sophos), W32/Gina!tr.pws (Fortinet)

 PLATFORM:

Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003

 OVERALL RISK RATING:
 REPORTED INFECTION:
 SYSTEM IMPACT RATING:
 INFORMATION EXPOSURE:

  • Threat Type: Spyware

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: Yes

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel: Dropped by other malware, Downloaded from the Internet

This spyware arrives as a file that exports the functions of other malware/grayware. It arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It is injected into all running processes to remain memory resident.

It retrieves specific information from the affected system.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 55,296 bytes
File Type: DLL
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 11 Apr 2013

Arrival Details

This spyware arrives as a file that exports the functions of other malware/grayware.

It 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 copies of itself into the affected system:

  • %System%\cryptrsa.dll

(Note: %System% is the Windows system folder, which is usually C:\Windows\System32.)

It is injected into all running processes to remain memory resident.

Other System Modifications

This spyware adds the following registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Notify\NTP
DLLName = "cryptrsa.dll"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Notify\NTP
Startup = "LG"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Notify\NTP
Logon = "LG"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Notify\NTP
Asynchronous = "1"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Notify\NTP
Impersonate = "0"

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

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Notify\NTP

Information Theft

This spyware retrieves the following information from the affected system:

  • Time Stamp
  • User Name
  • Password

Stolen Information

This spyware saves the stolen information in the following file:

  • %System%\eula.txt

(Note: %System% is the Windows system folder, which is usually C:\Windows\System32.)

NOTES:

This spyware is a component DLL that export functions for its main malware. It exports functions that originates from the legitimate Windows file MSGINA.DLL.

It appends the stolen information to %System%\eula.txt, which has the following content:

========<*>=========<*>========
{Date} {Time}
Username: [{Stolen User Name}],password: [{Stolen Password}]

The information gathered by this spyware {Date}, {Time}, {Stolen User Name} and {Stolen Password} may vary per system.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.300

Step 1

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

Step 2

Restart in Safe Mode

[ Learn More ]

Step 3

Delete this registry key

[ Learn More ]

Important: Editing the Windows Registry incorrectly can lead to irreversible system malfunction. Please do this step only if you know how or you can ask assistance from your system administrator. Else, check this Microsoft article first before modifying your computer's registry. Before you could do this, you must restart in Safe Mode. For instructions on how to do this, you may refer to this page If the preceding step requires you to restart in safe mode, you may proceed to edit the system registry.

 
  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify
    • NTP

Step 4

Restart in normal mode and scan your computer with your Trend Micro product for files detected as TSPY_GINA.RJF. 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 this Knowledge Base page for more information.

NOTES:

Restore a modified file in your system

This spyware modifies contents of the file %System%\eula.txt. You may restore the original content by doing these steps:

  1. Open %System%\eula.txt using a text editor, e.g. Notepad.
  2. Look for the following strings and delete the said strings:

    ========<*>=========<*>========
    {Date} {Time}
    Username: [{Stolen User Name}],password: [{Stolen Password}]

  3. Save the file.
  4. Close the text editor.


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