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General discussion

Host file locked when running HJ this

Oct 14, 2008 1:46AM PDT

Hi, I ran AVG last night, didn't detect any problem, ran it again in safe mode, detected trojan horse in my zonealarm directory (I read the earlier thread on this so those might be false positives). I removed them, and ran Hijack this. HijackThis poped up a message at the line "O1 - Hosts: ::1 localhost", saying "For some reason your system denied write access to the Hosts file. If any hijacked domains are in this file, HijackThis may NOT be able to fix this."

I suspect that my host file being not writable may have to do with another virus or something, should I have it removed by HJ this? The description of O1 - Hosts worries me, it says "A change in the hosts system file can effectively make Windows believe that 'auto.search.msn.com' has a different IP that it really has and make IE open the wrong page".

I probably should post my HJ this log for analysis, but it usually takes a few days and I need to access my bank sites today. Any suggestion would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Discussion is locked

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Pls. run the following.....
Oct 14, 2008 2:24AM PDT

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware or alternate download link

* Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
* Double-click on Download_mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
* When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
* When installation has finished, make sure you leave both of these checked:
* - Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
* - Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
* Then click Finish.
* MBAM will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan. If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself. Press the OK button to close that box and continue.
* If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install.

* On the Scanner tab:
* - Make sure the "Perform Quick Acan" option is selected.
* - Then click on the Scan button.
* The next screen will ask you to select the drives to scan. Leave all the drives selected and click on the Start Scan button.
* The scan will begin and "Scan in progress" will show at the top. It may take some time to complete so please be patient.
* When the scan is finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".
* Click OK to close the message box and continue with the removal process.
* Back at the main Scanner screen, click on the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.
* Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
* When removal is completed, a log report will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to restart your computer. (see Note below)
* The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.

* -- Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts. Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware.

**If you encounter this message:"c:\program files\malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll Unable to register the dll/ocx: RegSvr32 failed with exit code 0x5" Click on ignore mbamext.dll

..

Download and scan with SUPERAntiSpyware Free for Home Users

* Double-click SUPERAntiSpyware.exe and use the default settings for installation.
* An icon will be created on your desktop. Double-click that icon to launch the program.
* If asked to update the program definitions, click "Yes". If not, update the definitions before scanning by selecting "Check for Updates". (If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download and unzip them from here.)
* Under "Configuration and Preferences", click the Preferences button.
* Click the Scanning Control tab.
* Under Scanner Options make sure the following are checked (leave all others unchecked):

Close browsers before scanning.
Scan for tracking cookies.
Terminate memory threats before quarantining.

* Click the "Close" button to leave the control center screen.
* Back on the main screen, under "Scan for Harmful Software" click Scan your computer.
* On the left, make sure you check C:\Fixed Drive.
* On the right, under "Complete Scan", choose Perform Complete Scan.
* Click "Next" to start the scan. Please be patient while it scans your computer.
* After the scan is complete, a Scan Summary box will appear with potentially harmful items that were detected. Click "OK".
* Make sure everything has a checkmark next to it and click "Next".
* A notification will appear that "Quarantine and Removal is Complete". Click "OK" and then click the "Finish" button to return to the main menu.
* If asked if you want to reboot, click "Yes".

Do the scans come up clean?

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Thanks
Oct 14, 2008 12:02PM PDT

Thanks so much for the detailed instructions Marianna! The scan results are clean, so I shouldn't be concerned?

Cheers.

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You Are Welcome :)
Oct 14, 2008 2:46PM PDT

As both scans came up clean, I would not be concerned.

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1 Other Thought...If You Have Spybot 1.4-1.6....
Oct 14, 2008 3:03PM PDT

it has a setting to "Lock hosts file to prevent hijacking". Other protectors may have this also. If this is set, it would explain the finding (ie: a good thing)! Happy

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(NT) Yep, that could be a reason ! Thanks for bringing it up :)
Oct 14, 2008 3:08PM PDT
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Cheers
Oct 15, 2008 1:56AM PDT

Thanks for the reminder, actually I never changed this setting. I had run HJT before and didn't have this host file being locked message. After the Zone Alarm dlls were removed by AVG and I ran HJT I had the problem. Then, I reinstalled ZA yesterday, and ran HJT again, and didn't get the message. Not sure what's the reason.

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Backdoor agent
Oct 16, 2008 1:53AM PDT

I scanned my machine on Tuesday night with SuperAntivirus and Malware byte's anti-malware, the results were clean. Then I scanned again last night with Spyware Doctors and a threat called "Backdoor.agent.lel" (please see below) was found. In between the scans, I had only downloaded windows updates using window's updater, and visited a couple of websites that I am sure are safe (logmein.com to access my work PC, msn.com, and this site). Does anyone have suggestions on how I got this malware please? I am using Vista, and have Zone Alarm, AVG Free, Spyware Doctors, and Spybot.

After I downloaded and installed window's latest updates yesterday and restarted my machine, Spybot did report some change in the registry, but I had thought that it's due to the new windows updates.


Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER, NextInstance

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, Service

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, Legacy

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, ConfigFlags

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, Class

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, ClassGUID

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, DeviceDesc

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Value
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000, Capabilities

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Key
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000\Control

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Key
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER\0000

Threat Name - Backdoor.Agent.LEL
Type - Registry Key
Risk Level - Medium
Infection - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_IPFILTERDRIVER

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False Positive?
Oct 16, 2008 2:02AM PDT
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Yes - I had found the same link .......
Oct 16, 2008 2:13AM PDT