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W32/HLLP.Philis.br

This page shows details and results of our analysis on the malware W32/HLLP.Philis.br

Threat Detail

Malware Type: Virus

Malware Sub-type: File Infector

Discovery Date: 2006-11-19

Next Steps:

Overview

W32/HLLP.Philis.br is a file infecting virus. It searches for executable files on the infected machine to prepend its viral code and due to a bug in virus code it may corrupt the executables. It is also responsible for dropping a .DLL file, which downloads password stealing trojans.


Minimum DAT

4900 (2006-11-20)

Updated DAT

5205 (2008-01-11)

 Minimum Engine

5.1.00

File Length

N/A

 Description Added

2006-11-19

Description Modified

2006-11-20

Malware Proliferation

Characteristics

On execution, this variant copies itself into %WinDir% folder as rundl132.exe and adds a load registry entry to activate itself on reboot. It also creates the following registry entries:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DownloadManager
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Soft\DownloadWWW\auto: "1"

It drops a .DLL file named Dll.dll in %WinDir%. It then injects this dll into processes Explorer.exe and IExplore.exe. This dll is may download other trojans from the following website

  • www.ql1258.com

W32/HLLP.Philis.br searches for executable files and prepends its viral code to target files. The prepending virus code is written using Borland Delphi.

It tries to avoid infecting executables that reside in folders with the following names:

    • WindowsUpdate
    • Windows Media Player
    • Outlook Express
    • Internet Explorer
    • ComPlus Applications
    • NetMeeting
    • Common Files
    • Messenger
    • Microsoft Office
    • InstallShield Installation Information
    • Microsoft Frontpage
    • Movie Maker
    • MSN Gaming Zone
    • system
    • system32
    • winnt
    • windows
    • Recycled
    • Documents and Settings
    • System Volume Information


The virus creates a file with the name "_desktop.ini" in every folder that it visits while looking for executable files to infect. This is created as a hidden system file and contains the date on which virus was executed to visit the folder in which the file resides. The date is shown in yyyy/mm/dd format. The "_desktop.ini" file is detected as W32/HLLP.Philis.ini.

The virus tries to spread via existing network shares. It searches for all active machines within the subnet. When it finds an active machine it sends an ICMP ping request and waits for a response. This ping request packet contains "Hello, World" string. After getting the ping response it tries to access the ADMIN$, IPC$ and any other shares that might exist on the machine. If the virus is able to access a shared resource, it first copies "_desktop.ini" to the root of the share to mark the share as visited by the virus and then infects executables present in the share. While infecting executables via a network share the virus may not limit itself to folder name exclusion as mentioned above.

The virus tries to terminate the following processes.

    • RavMon.exe
    • EGHOST.EXE
    • MAILMON.EXE
    • KAVPFW.EXE
    • IPARMOR.EXE
    • Ravmond.EXE
    • regsvc.exe
    • mcshield.ex


It also tries to stop the following service.

    • Kingsoft AntiVirus Service

 

 

Symptoms

  • Presence of %WinDir%\Dll.dll
  • Presence of registry entries as described
  • Presence of files named _desktop.ini in many folders.
    • These files have the system (S) and hidden (H) attributes set
    • These files are detected as W32/HLLP.Philis.ini
  • Increase in size of EXE files
  • Few executables may not run properly
  • Increase in disk activity (read and write)
  • HTTP network traffic to the aforementioned web address

    • Method of Infection

    W32/HLLP.Philis.br is a file infecting virus. Infection starts with manual execution of the binary. For spreading, the virus also relies on improperly configured/protected (open) shared drives.

    This variant may misinfect some executables rendering them corrupt. Any files corrupted by the virus are irrepairable and will have to be restored from backup.

    Removal

    All Users:

    Please use the following instructions for all supported versions of Windows to remove threats and other potential risks:

    1.Disable System Restore .

    2.Update to current engine and DAT files for detection and removal.

    3.Run a complete system scan.

    Modifications made to the system Registry and/or INI files for the purposes of hooking system startup, will be successfully removed if cleaning with the recommended engine and DAT combination (or higher).

    1. Please go to the Microsoft Recovery Console and restore a clean MBR.

    On windows XP:

    Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM drive and restart the computer.
    When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
    Select the Windows installation that is compromised and provide the administrator password
    Issue 'fixmbr' command to restore the Master Boot Record
    Follow onscreen instructions
    Reset and remove the CD from CD-ROM drive.


    On Windows Vista and 7:

    Insert the Windows CD into the CD-ROM drive and restart the computer.
    Click on "Repair Your Computer"
    When the System Recovery Options dialog comes up, choose the Command Prompt.
    Issue 'bootrec /fixmbr' command to restore the Master Boot Record
    Follow onscreen instructions
    Reset and remove the CD from CD-ROM drive.

    Variants

    United States - English