TROJ_COINMINE.NC

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

Arrival Details

This Trojan 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 Trojan drops the following copies of itself into the affected system and executes them:

• %Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner\CNminer.exe

(Note: %Application Data% is the Application Data folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming 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 files:

• %Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner\NsCpuCNMiner32.exe - Detected as TROJ_COINMINE.NC
• %Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner\NsCpuCNMiner64.exe - Detected as TROJ_COINMINE.NC
• %Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner\pools.txt - contains Bitcoin Mining Pool addresses

(Note: %Application Data% is the Application Data folder, where it usually is C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP (32- and 64-bit); C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming 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 non-malicious files:

• %User Temp%\ns{random}.tmp\inetc.dll - NSIS plugin (Deleted after use)
• %User Temp%\ns{random}.tmp\System.dll - NSIS plugin (Deleted after use)

(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:

• %Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner
• %User Temp%\ns{random}.tmp

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

Autostart Technique

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

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
CNminer = "%Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner\CNminer.exe"

It drops the following file(s) in the Windows User Startup folder to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

• %User Startup%\CNminer.lnk - shortcut pointing to the dropped copy

(Note: %User Startup% is the current user's Startup folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows 2000 and XP, and C:\Documents and Settings\{User name}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup on Windows Vista, 7, and 8.)

Process Termination

This Trojan terminates the following processes if found running in the affected system's memory:

• minerd.exe
• NsCpuCNMiner32.exe
• NsCpuCNMiner64.exe

NOTES:

This Trojan connects to the website http://{domain name}/test.html?{7 random numbers}to read its configuration file. The variable {domain name} may be any of the following:

• {BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.238.223
• {BLOCKED}test.ru
• {BLOCKED}ts.ru
• {BLOCKED}ts.ru
• {BLOCKED}t.ru
• {BLOCKED}test.ru
• {BLOCKED}sy.ru

It executes the file %Application Data%\NsCpuCNMiner\NsCpuCNMiner{32 or 64}.exe {parameter from the configuration file}. An example of the parameter is below:

-dbg -1 -o {pool address} -t 0 -u {Wallet Address} -p x

This Trojan is used for CryptoNote (cryptocurrency) CPU Mining. It can mine the following supported coins:

• AeonCoin(AEON)
• Bytecoin (BCN)
• Dashcoin (DSH)
• DuckDuckCoin (DUCK)
• Fantomcoin (FCN)
• Monero (XMR)
• MonetaVerde(MCN)
• OneEvilCoin(OEC)
• ORION
• QuazarCoin (QCN)