Sophos

W32/Rbot-AFO

Aliases
  • Backdoor.Win32.Rbot.rs
  • W32/Sdbot.worm.gen.t
  • W32.Spybot.Worm
Category
Type
What to do
Prevalence low high

Summary

 
How it spreads
  • Network shares
Affected operating systems Windows
Characteristics
  • Installs itself in the registry
Protection available since 15 June 2005 21:12:09 (GMT)
Last updated 18 January 2006 13:31:23 (GMT)
Detected by All Sophos products
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  • Test your existing anti-virus protection
  • Find threats your anti-virus missed

Action

Please follow the instructions for removing worms.

Change any data that may have become compromised.

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.

Each user has a registry area named HKEY_USERS\[code number indicating user]\. For each user locate the entries:

HKU\[code number]\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Run\

HKU\[code number]\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\RunServices\

and remove any reference to any file you deleted.

Close the registry editor.

More Information

W32/Rbot-AFO is a worm with IRC backdoor functionality for the Windows platform.

W32/Rbot-AFO can spread to weakly protected network shares, to weakly protected Microsoft SQL servers, and to computers vulnerable to the RPC-DCOM, LSASS, and Workstation Service exploit.

The following patches for the operating system vulnerabilities exploited by W32/Rbot-AFO can be obtained from the Microsoft website:

MS03-049
MS04-011
MS04-012

W32/Rbot-AFO runs continuously in the background, providing a backdoor server which allows a remote intruder to gain access and control over the computer via IRC channels.

W32/Rbot-AFO can be instructed to:

Scan for remote computers to spread to
Act asn an FTP or an HTTP server
Log any keystrokes made on an infected computer
Participate in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks
Upload, download, search for, and execute files
Terminate security programs

When first run W32/Rbot-AFO copies itself to <Windows system folder>\svshost.exe.

The following registry entries are created to run svshost.exe on startup:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
secure
svshost.exe

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
secure
svshost.exe

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
secure
svshost.exe

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
secure
svshost.exe

Registry entries are set as follows:

HKCU\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
secure
svshost.exe

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
secure
svshost.exe

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\OLE
secure
svshost.exe

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole
secure
svshost.exe

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