W32/Agobot-QX

Please follow the instructions for removing worms.

Replace the Hosts file from a backup or edit it in Notepad to remove the changes that the worm has made.

To renable DCOM you can edit the registry, but it's better to use Dcomcnfg.exe. See Microsoft article 825750 for details.

You will also need to edit the following registry entries, if they are present. Please read the warning about editing the registry.

At the taskbar, click Start|Run. Type 'Regedit' and press Return. The registry editor opens.

Before you edit the registry, you should make a backup. On the 'Registry' menu, click 'Export Registry File'. In the 'Export range' panel, click 'All', then save your registry as Backup.

Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE entries:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

and remove any reference to any file you deleted.

Close the registry editor.

W32/Agobot-QX is a network worm with a backdoor Trojan component.

W32/Agobot-QX is capable of spreading to computers on the local network protected by weak passwords after receiving the appropriate backdoor command. W32/Agobot-QX can spread to other computers through a number of software vulnerabilities.

W32/Agobot-QX will run in the background and provide backdoor access to remote users over IRC channels.

W32/Agobot-QX will attempt to terminate a number of anti-virus and security-related applications. The worm will also attempt to deny access to a list of anti-virus and security related websites by modifying the Windows HOSTS file. W32/Agobot-QX is a network worm with a backdoor Trojan component.

W32/Agobot-QX is capable of spreading to computers on the local network protected by weak passwords after receiving the appropriate backdoor command.

W32/Agobot-QX can also spread by exploiting the following vulnerabilities:

DCOM (MS04-012)
NetBios
Microsoft SQL servers with weak passwords.

When first run, W32/Agobot-QX copies itself to the Windows system folder as WCEMNGR.EXE and runs this copy of the worm. The copy will then attempt to delete the original file. In order to run each time a user logs on, W32/Agobot-QX will set the following registry entries:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
WCESMngr
WCEMNGR.EXE

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
WCESMngr
WCEMNGR.EXE

The worm runs continuously in the background providing backdoor access to the computer.

W32/Agobot-QX will append the HOSTS file in the %SYSTEM%\drivers\etc folder. The file contains a list of websites each bound to the IP loopback address. This prevents access to a list of anti-virus and security related websites. For example,

127.0.0.1 sophos.com
127.0.0.1 www.sophos.com

W32/Agobot-QX may alter the following registry entry in order to enable/disable DCOM:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole\EnableDCOM

W32/Agobot-QX is capable of adding and deleting the C$, D$, IPC$ and ADMIN$ network shares.

W32/Agobot-QX will attempt to terminate a number of anti-virus and security related processes in addition to other viruses, worms and Trojans.