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Cleaning up after WMF exploit - BHO removal
Browser helper objects (BHO's) are listed in the registry and load with explorer when it runs (Internet Explorer/ File explorer are so closely tied it affects both.) I've used BHOdemon in the past to…
Browser helper objects (BHO's) are listed in the registry and load with explorer when it runs (Internet Explorer/ File explorer are so closely tied it affects both.) I've used BHOdemon in the past to identify and disable BHO's and a tool like that is the preferred method. However, in my case, this is a disposable virtual machine and I used the "blunt object" approach.... regedit.
I had identified one file in the infestation as a BHO by viewing it with a text editor and finding a text string identifying that it was a BHO. 3.00.13.dll was the file name. In the registry, I went to the following key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects and deleted every entry. This is not the recommended way of dealing with it, but I was already several hours into cleaning up my virtual machine and didn't have any "good" BHO's that I was concerned that would disable.
Even if there were "good" BHO's that I had disabled I would image a reinstall of the BHO would fix it. (Some good one's for example might be an Acrobat reader BHO)... Anyway, I had forgot to detail that step in the earlier writeups and wanted to make sure there was a complete accounting.