Are WinFixer 2005 popups a sign of infection or just attempts at infection?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Donna Fox
  • Start date Start date
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Donna Fox

Are WinFixer 2005 popups a sign of infection or just attempts at infection?

My hosts file is huge, Ad Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster,
ZoneAlarm, etc. are all running, Firefox is set to block popups, Ewido &
Avast are running, etc. ... yet ... I gotta hand it to the WinFixer folks.
They seem to have slipped by my defesnses somehow. Or not?

All I know is I just now received three very professional looking Windows
XP looking popups warning:

http://www.winfixer.com
NOTICE: If your computer has errors in the registry database or file
system, it could cause unpredictable or erratic behavior, freezes and
crashes. Fixing these errors can increase your computer's performance and
prevent data loss. Would you like to install WinFixer 2005 to check your
computer for free? (Recommended)
OK Cancel

--- After x'ing that, I get another ---

http://www.winfixer.com
NOTICE: You have not completed the errors scan.
If your computer has errors in the file system or Windos registry,
it could cause unpredictable or erratic PC behavior, freezes, crashes
and loss of data. You need to install WinFixer 2005 to scan for and,
if found, fix system errors now (Recommended)?
OK Cancel

--- Insiduously, after x'ing that, I get yet another ---

Winfixer 2005 will scan your system for errors now.
Please select "RUN" or "OPEN" when prompted to start the installation.
This file has been digitally signed and independently certified as
100% free of viruses, adware, and spyware.
OK

--- Given these three popups ---
I googled for WinFixer to see lots of people get this presumed popup ad.
But how did they slip by all the standard defenses?
Or did they?

Unfortunately, I am decidedly not an expert so I ask those who are:

Are these three WinFixer 2005 popups evidence of an existing WinFixer 2005
infection or are the three popups just an attempt at an infection?
 
From: "Donna Fox" <[email protected]>

| Are WinFixer 2005 popups a sign of infection or just attempts at infection?
|
| My hosts file is huge, Ad Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster,
| ZoneAlarm, etc. are all running, Firefox is set to block popups, Ewido &
| Avast are running, etc. ... yet ... I gotta hand it to the WinFixer folks.
| They seem to have slipped by my defesnses somehow. Or not?
|
| All I know is I just now received three very professional looking Windows
| XP looking popups warning:
|
| http://www.winfixer.com
| NOTICE: If your computer has errors in the registry database or file
| system, it could cause unpredictable or erratic behavior, freezes and
| crashes. Fixing these errors can increase your computer's performance and
| prevent data loss. Would you like to install WinFixer 2005 to check your
| computer for free? (Recommended)
| OK Cancel
|
| --- After x'ing that, I get another ---
|
| http://www.winfixer.com
| NOTICE: You have not completed the errors scan.
| If your computer has errors in the file system or Windos registry,
| it could cause unpredictable or erratic PC behavior, freezes, crashes
| and loss of data. You need to install WinFixer 2005 to scan for and,
| if found, fix system errors now (Recommended)?
| OK Cancel
|
| --- Insiduously, after x'ing that, I get yet another ---
|
| Winfixer 2005 will scan your system for errors now.
| Please select "RUN" or "OPEN" when prompted to start the installation.
| This file has been digitally signed and independently certified as
| 100% free of viruses, adware, and spyware.
| OK
|
| --- Given these three popups ---
| I googled for WinFixer to see lots of people get this presumed popup ad.
| But how did they slip by all the standard defenses?
| Or did they?
|
| Unfortunately, I am decidedly not an expert so I ask those who are:
|
| Are these three WinFixer 2005 popups evidence of an existing WinFixer 2005
| infection or are the three popups just an attempt at an infection?

Download WinFixerFix.exe from the URL --
http://www.ik-cs.com/programs/virtools/WinFixerFix.exe

Execute; WinFixerFix.exe { Note: You must accept the default of C:\McAfee }
Choose; Unzip
Choose; Close

NOTE: You may have to disable your software FireWall or allow WGET.EXE to go through your
FireWall to enable WGET.EXE to download the needed McAfee related files.

Execute; c:\mcafee\clean.bat
{ or Double-click on 'Clean Link' in c:\mcafee }

A final report in HTML format called C:\mcafee\ScanReport.HTML will be generated. At the
end of the scan, it will be displayed in your browser (Opera, FireFox or Internet Explorer).
It is suggested that you move the report out of c:\mcafee before performing another scan.
It would be a good idea to scan in Safe Mode and in Normal Mode and save a copy of the HTML
report for each session.

Please Copy and Paste the contents of the HTML Log file; C:\mcafee\ScanReport.HTML in your
reply.

* * * Please report back your results * * *
 
Hi Donna - Seven approaches to removing Winfixer (Vundo). Not all will work
on all variants. It's suggested that you try them in this order. See below
about Sun Java for one possible infection route.

1 - Feedback from users reports that the Removal Tool here is the most
effective against what is currently the most common variety of this
'malware':
http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=57049



2 - Symantec has a new Vundo remover:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/FixVundo.exe
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.vundo.removal.tool.html
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.virtumonde.html#removalinstructions



3 - Courtesy of Dave Lipman:

"Download WinFixerFix.exe from the URL --
http://www.ik-cs.com/programs/virtools/WinFixerFix.exe


On the infected PC...

Execute; WinFixerFix.exe { Note: You must accept the default of
C:\McAfee }
Choose; Unzip
Choose; Close

NOTE: You may have to disable your software FireWall or allow WGET.EXE to go
through your FireWall to enable WGET.EXE to download the needed McAfee
related files.

Execute; c:\mcafee\clean.bat { or Double-click on 'Clean Link' in
c:\mcafee }

A final report in HTML format called C:\mcafee\ScanReport.HTML will be
generated. At the end of the scan, it will be displayed in your browser
(Opera, FireFox or Internet Explorer). It is suggested that you move the
report out of c:\mcafee before performing another scan. It would be a good
idea to scan in Safe Mode and in Normal Mode and save a copy of the HTML
report for each session."



4 - McAfee has a combined automated/manual removal procedure here:
http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_127690.htm



5 - Then, courtesy of MVP Suzi Turner and Mosaic1:

"Atribune, a guy in the forums, has a Vundo fix tool as well:

Instructions for use by user as posted in the SpywareWarrior forum:

'Please download VundoFix.exe to your desktop. Here's a link:

http://www.atribune.org/downloads/VundoFix.exe

Double-click VundoFix.exe to extract the files
This will create a VundoFix folder on your desktop.
After the files are extracted, please restart your computer into Safe Mode.

Once in safe mode open the VundoFix folder and double-click on KillVundo.bat

A command window will open and it should look like this:

VundoFix V2.1 by Atri
By pressing enter you agree that you are using this at your own risk

At this point press enter one time.

Next you will see:

Type in the filepath as instructed by the forum staff
Then Press Enter, to continue with the fix.


At this point please type the following file path (make sure to enter it
exactly as below!):
C:\WINDOWS\system32\geeby.dll

Press Enter.

Next you will see:

Please type in the second filepath as instructed by the forum staff

At this point please type the following file path (make sure to enter it
exactly as below!):
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ybeeg.*

Press Enter to continue.

The fix will run then HijackThis will open.
In HijackThis, please place a check next to the following items and click
FIX CHECKED:


O2 - BHO: MSEvents Object - {52B1DFC7-AAFC-4362-B103-868B0683C697} -
C:\WINDOWS\system32\geeby.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: geeby - C:\WINDOWS\system32\geeby.dll

After you have fixed these items, close Hijackthis.

The fix will tell you to shutdown using the Power button. Hold in your power
button until the computer shuts down. Wait about 15 seconds and then restart
the computer into regular windows.

Chkdsk will run. This is normal. It will take a few minutes and is checking
your file system because of the Bad Shutdown we caused.

Go for free online Virus scans here:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

Allow them to clean

Panda will have the option to create a log after the scan has finished.
Click
the See Report button. Then click the save Report button. It will be saved
under the name activescan.txt Do that and post that log into your next reply
here.

Run hijackthis and post the new log and the vundofix.txt file from the
vundofix folder into as well.'

The forum helpers have reported this fix from Atribune works. I don't know
about the Symantec tool.

If you'd like to join Spyware Warrior, you could see the thread where the
helpers are discussing this.

Suzi"


Note: Here's some added info relative to the above courtesy of MVP Steve
Wechsler (akaMowGreen):

"the .dll's file name :

C:\WINDOWS\system32\geeby.dll

will be different on different systems. What you can do to identify it
is to scan the system with HijackThis and look at the O2 BHO and/or O20
Winlogon entries to find out it's name. Close all other programs and
browsers prior to scanning with HJT. REMEMBER that there is a hidden file
that will have the name of the .dll spelled backwards. Enter that name when
the VundoFix requests the path to the second file.



6 - Grinler, (Lawrence Abrams, a Security MVP), has another removal method
that can be used if the recommended method fails :
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic18610.html"




7 - Courtesy of S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

Download VirtumundoBegone and save it to your desktop.

VirtumundoBegone
http://secured2k.home.comcast.net/tools/VirtumundoBeGone.exe

Run that application after booting into safe mode.





Here's the HijackThis info you may need:

Download HijackThis, free, here:
http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip (Always download a new
fresh copy of HijackThis [and CWShredder also] - It's UPDATED frequently.)
You may also get it here if that link is blocked:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=3155&file=3&evp=3304750663b552982a8baee6434cfc13

There's a good "How-to-Use" tutorial here:
http://computercops.biz/HijackThis.html

In Windows Explorer, click on Tools|Folder Options|View and check "Show
hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system
files". (You may want to restore these when you're all finished with
HijackThis.)

Place HijackThis.exe or unzip HijackThis.zip into its own dedicated folder
at the root level such as C:\HijackThis (NOT in a Temp folder or on your
Desktop), reboot to Safe mode, start HT then press Scan. Click on SaveLog
when it's finished which will create hijackthis.log. Now click the Config
button, then Misc Tools and click on Generate StartupList.log which will
create Startuplist.txt


Then go to one of the following forums:

Spyware and Hijackware Removal Support, here:
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
or Jim Eshelman's site here: http://forum.aumha.org/
or Bleepingcomputer here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/
or Computer Cops here: http://www.computercops.biz/forums.html
or Tom Coyote here: http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php?act=idx
or Net-Integration here: http://net-integration.us/forums/index.php

Register if necessary, then sign in and READ THE DIRECTIONS at the beginning
of the particular site's HiJackThis forum, then copy and paste both files
into a message asking for assistance, Someone will answer with detailed
instructions for the removal of your parasite(s). Be sure you include at
the beginning of your post a description of "What specific
problem(s)/symptoms you're trying to solve" and "What steps you've already
taken."




*******
ONLY IF you've successfully eliminated the malware, you can now make a new,
clean Restore Point and delete any previously saved (possibly infected)
ones. The following suggested approach is courtesy of Gary Woodruff: For XP
you can run a Disk Cleanup cycle and then look in the More Options tab. The
System Restore option removes all but the latest Restore Point. If there
hasn't been one made since the system was cleaned you should manually create
one before dumping the old possibly infected ones.
*******


You probably should consider switching to Sun Java J2SE 5.0 JRE or later
here: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp (What I use, BTW),
especially since MS will apparently no longer be distributing Java or
providing any support for Java including security fixes after Dec 31, 2007.
BE SURE that you uninstall any prior versions of Sun Java as some,
specifically JRE v. 1.4.2_03, contain a security bug which certain malware,
notably Winfixer/Vundo, are suspected of exploiting. If you did have this
version of Sun Java, JRE v. 1.4.2-03, installed, please post back and tell
us.


When you get things cleaned up, take a look at my Blog, Defending Your
Machine, addy in my Signature below, for some additional curative and
preventive measures you might want to implement to help prevent this type of
thing in the future.
 
... and you are running a real-time anti-virus product like McAfees,
Symantec, Kaspersky as well ???

Isn't Avast a real-time anti-virus product?
They are.

I have these WinFixer popups which I thought were "normal" pop ups.
How do they slip past our defenses?

They must be doing *something* different as I don't get any popups ever
except these WinFixer 2005 popups. What trick did they use to slip past
what the other popups can't seem to overcome?
 
I think WinFixer, SpyTrooper, SpyAxe relied on the recent WMF flaw that
Microsoft became aware of on 27th December 2005 and was patched on 6th
January 2006 "Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)".

Hello Stephen Howe,

I think you are a good sleuth. I was wondering myself how come those
WinFixer popups only came ONCE on my system. Only an expert could explain
this.

Apparently I'm not infected but the Winfixer company took advantages of
weaknesses in my system to pop up the requests to infect me. Clever.

Therefore, despite the single set of popups, Winfixer didn't seem to have
infected my system since I never clicked on any of the buttons on those
popups (does anyone ever hit any popup buttons? I never do. I always kill
the popup window although I guess they could force action if they wanted
to). Yet I got those three popups myself.

When I ran the wonderful Jim Byrd suggested Vundo remover
http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=57049 it reported nothing
found.

[01/14/2006, 19:32:47] - VirtumundoBeGone v1.5 (
"D:\programs\WinFixer_Removal\VirtumundoBeGone.exe" )
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Detected System Information:
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Windows Version: 5.1.2600, Service Pack 2
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Current Username: Administrator (Admin)
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Windows is in NORMAL mode.
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Searching for Browser Helper Objects:
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Finished Searching Browser Helper Objects
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Finishing up...
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Nothing found! Exiting...

So, I'm assuming Winfixer TRIED to infect me by using a Windows flaw to
slip past our defences in order to put those three popups on our screens
but Winfixer I'm assuming never infected my system because I never said yes
to the popups.

I'm going to patch my system pronto to the suggested patch level to prevent
Winfixer from taking advantage of my system again.

Thanks for solving the puzzling riddle.
Ada
 
That winfixer is is part of the spyaxe. it a hard one to get rid off your
computer. I have found that the webroot program Spy sweeper gets rid of it.
http://www.webroot.com/consumer runs about 29.95, but it solved the problem
after I had spent numerous hours trying other ways

Ada Price said:
I think WinFixer, SpyTrooper, SpyAxe relied on the recent WMF flaw that
Microsoft became aware of on 27th December 2005 and was patched on 6th
January 2006 "Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)".

Hello Stephen Howe,

I think you are a good sleuth. I was wondering myself how come those
WinFixer popups only came ONCE on my system. Only an expert could explain
this.

Apparently I'm not infected but the Winfixer company took advantages of
weaknesses in my system to pop up the requests to infect me. Clever.

Therefore, despite the single set of popups, Winfixer didn't seem to have
infected my system since I never clicked on any of the buttons on those
popups (does anyone ever hit any popup buttons? I never do. I always kill
the popup window although I guess they could force action if they wanted
to). Yet I got those three popups myself.

When I ran the wonderful Jim Byrd suggested Vundo remover
http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=57049 it reported nothing
found.

[01/14/2006, 19:32:47] - VirtumundoBeGone v1.5 (
"D:\programs\WinFixer_Removal\VirtumundoBeGone.exe" )
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Detected System Information:
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Windows Version: 5.1.2600, Service Pack 2
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Current Username: Administrator (Admin)
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Windows is in NORMAL mode.
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Searching for Browser Helper Objects:
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Finished Searching Browser Helper Objects
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Finishing up...
[01/13/2006, 12:32:50] - Nothing found! Exiting...

So, I'm assuming Winfixer TRIED to infect me by using a Windows flaw to
slip past our defences in order to put those three popups on our screens
but Winfixer I'm assuming never infected my system because I never said yes
to the popups.

I'm going to patch my system pronto to the suggested patch level to prevent
Winfixer from taking advantage of my system again.

Thanks for solving the puzzling riddle.
Ada


I think WinFixer, SpyTrooper, SpyAxe relied on the recent WMF flaw that
Microsoft became aware of on 27th December 2005 and was patched on 6th
January 2006. By now, all those using Automatic updates should have the
patch. If you go to Control Panel, click on Add/Remove Programs, make sure
"Show Updates" is ticked and Sort by Name, you should see if you scroll to
the bottom text "Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)" which is the
patch. So before 6th January 2006 most Windows users were vulnerable (unless
using the unofficial patch), that should not be the case now.

Of course if your system is infected, you need to be disinfected.


See above. It was a problem. It should not be now. Now it is just a case of
mopping up infected PCs.
No uninfected patched PCs should be being infected.

Stephen Howe
 
pcbutts1 said:
PHUCK YOU STALKER. I am not banned on MS why the hell do you keep saying
that. Get lost Stalker.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but they have automatic filters and even the
Usenet admin on their servers look for signs of you and delete your
postings. All you have to do is post anything that identifies you and
they will delete it.

I tried to acknowledge your proper posting, to even say thanks for
starting to do it right, but need to be rude about it. I guess I was
wrong about you changing your ways.

No matter how many times you say it's not true, MS is removing any post
they identify as you from their Usenet servers - you can check online
yourself.
 
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