On the next boot I was greeted with the above message C:\windows\system32\kernels64.exe not found please make sure the path……correct…. blah blah blah. Back to msconfig. Everything there now looks clean. I check the running processes, again everything there looks clean I don’t see anything that I’ve been fighting. So, I start the registry editor (start, run and type regedit) and once that’s open a start a search for kernels64.exe
Category: Security
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Cleaning up after WMF exploit third party boot disc
At this point, I needed to rename or delete some files that windows would not let me touch. I had this winlogon.exe running from a suspect directory c:\windows\inet20001 and windows wouldn’t let me kill it, or remove it’s start entry in the registry. So, I booted my image from a dsl linux cd and opted for command line only. Once booted, I navigated to mount the windows partition and cd’d to /mnt/hda1/windows/inet20001
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Removing items from MSCONFIG after WMF exploit
OK, so, I’m busy killing off running processes and fire up MSConfig to try to keep them from coming back on the next boot. To launch msconfig go to start, run… type in msconfig and click ok. The startup tab is where we’re looking for programs running at startup (makes sense…) This is a bit easier and more straightforward than visiting the run entry in the registry. It does combine a few locations into one place.
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Task Manager Suspicious Processes after WMF exploit
After getting into Task Manager I saw a number of suspicious processes. There were a lot of things running as my user that I didn’t recognize. kernels64.exe, vxgame6.exe, vxgame4.exe, mm4.exe, vxh8jkdq2.exe, netsh.exe, cmd.exe, winstall.exe, vxgamet4.exe, vxgame2.exe covers most of the list of suspect entries. netsh and cmd are both legit programs, but were likely being used as remote shells. In other words they were legit, but not something that I expected to be running. (I didn’t have a cmd shell open..)
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Task manager has been disabled by your administrator
The first problem I ran into in cleaning up after my infested Windows XP image was this error message. One of the first things I do in cleaning an infested system is try to kill off running process that look suspect (or at least identify them.) On using ctrl-alt-delete I got the message “Task manager has been disabled by your administrator” To be honest I haven’t seen that one before and it sent me Googling…
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Cleaning up after the WMF exploit
OK, I mentioned that I infested a virtual machine with the current WMF 0-day exploit. First I should probably clarify. An exploit is a means of getting in to a system. The payload is the software that is installed. In the case of my experience there was a long list of pests installed. Given that the exploit enables any software to be installed, your experience may be different. That’s the first thing I want to make clear, depending on where and when you were affected you may see vastly different malware.
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Microsoft Security advisory on WMF exploit
I’ve read the security advisory and unfortunately Microsoft doesn’t give any real workarounds. (There have been several announced from other sources.) Unfortunately, Microsoft: 1)urges caution in opening email and links from untrusted sources, and 2) wants you to call them if you’ve been affected by this. (1-866-PCSAFETY) and 3) make sure you have all updates (which currently don’t protect against this vulnerability) and a list of other things that don’t mitigate against this threat. Disappointing.
Correction — I just noticed, they do mention the “unregister” workaround, I missed it when I looked at the document I missed that you have to click on “workarounds” after viewing the “suggested actions” section. After all that time working on the virtual machine I’m probably not as sharp as I could be.
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WMF 0-day update
Last night while I was in the midst of infecting a virtual machine, Microsoft issued a release that there’s a “possible vulnerability”… fortunately, their technical document is a bit more straightforward… technet advisory here. Spyware Confidential also has a good roundup on the coverage so far. There’s a bit more disturbing stuff coming too…
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WMF zero-day exploit first hand experience
Well, I’ve just spent the better part of 6 hours (maybe a bit more) “sacrificing” a virtual machine to the zero-day Windows Meta File (WMF) exploit and all the malware that comes in. I picked one site from the sunbeltblog list to infect the virtual machine with and can attest to it being quite nasty. I was able to get the virtual machine *mostly* clean. I still haven’t gone back over it to try and make sure, but I’ll be posting some details from the “fun” tomorrow.