G-03: AOLGOLD Trojan Alert Bulletin
Paul S. Mauvais (mauvais@ocelot.llnl.gov)
Thu, 16 Nov 1995 19:32:42 -0800
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__________________________________________________________
The U.S. Department of Energy
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
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__________________________________________________________
INFORMATION BULLETIN
AOLGOLD Trojan Program
November 16, 1995 1300 PST Number G-03
_______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM: A trojan program is being distributed around America
Online and other networks called AOLGOLD.ZIP.
PLATFORM: DOS-based PCs
DAMAGE: When the INSTALL.EXE program is executed, most files on the
users C: drive are deleted.
SOLUTION: See the description below
_______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY
ASSESSMENT: Users who download the AOLGOLD.ZIP or INSTALL.EXE trojaned
programs, unpack, and execute them may destroy files on their
DOS C: drive.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Information on the AOLGOLD Trojan Program
AOLGOLD Trojan
==============
The AOLGOLD Trojan program was recently discovered on America Online (AOL).
Notice about the Trojan has been circulated to all America Online
subscribers. Notice about the Trojan and a copy of the Trojan program were
supplied to CIAC by Doug Bigelow, who is on the staff of America Online.
Apparently, an e-mail message is being circulated that contains an attached
archive file named AOLGOLD.ZIP. A README file that is in the archive
describes it as a new and improved interface for the AOL online service.
Note that there is no such program as AOLGOLD. Also, simply reading an
e-mail message or even downloading an included file will not do damage to
your machine. You must execute (or run) the downloaded file to release
the Trojan and have it cause damage.
If you unzip the archive, you get two files: INSTALL.EXE and README.TXT.
The README.TXT file again describes AOLGOLD as a new and improved interface
to the AOL online service. The INSTALL.EXE program is a self-extracting ZIP
archive. When you run the install program, it extracts 18 files onto your
hard drive:
MACROS.DRV
VIDEO.DRV
INSTALL.BAT
ADRIVE.RPT
SUSPEND.DRV
ANNOY.COM
MACRO.COM
SP-NET.COM
SP-WIN.COM
MEMBRINF.COM
DEVICE.COM
TEXTMAP.COM
HOST.COM
REP.COM
EMS2EXT.SYS
EMS.COM
EMS.SYS
README.TXT
The file list includes another README.TXT file. If you examine the new
README.TXT file, it starts out with "Ever wanted the Powers of a Guide" and
continues with some crude language. The README.TXT file indicates that the
included program is a guide program that can be used to kick other people
off of AOL.
If you stop at this point and do nothing but examine the unzipped files
with the TYPE command, your machine will not be damaged. The following
three files contain the Trojan program:
MACROS.DRV
VIDEO.DRV
INSTALL.BAT
The rest of the files included in the archive appear to have been grabbed
at random to simply fill up the archive and make it look official.
The Trojan program is started by running the INSTALL.BAT file. The
INSTALL.BAT file is a simple batch file that renames the VIDEO.DRV file to
VIRUS.BAT and then runs it. VIDEO.DRV is an amateurish DOS batch file that
starts deleting the contents of several critical directories on your C:
drive, including:
c:\
c:\dos
c:\windows
c:\windows\system
c:\qemm
c:\stacker
c:\norton
It also deletes the contents of several other directories, including those
for several online services and games, such as:
c:\aol20
c:\prodigy
c:\aol25
c:\mmp169
c:\cserve
c:\doom
c:\wolf3d
When the batch file completes, it prints a crude message on the screen and
attempts to run a program named DoomDay.EXE. Bugs in the batch file prevent
the DOOMDAY.EXE program from running. Other bugs in the file cause it to
delete itself if it is run from any drive but the C: drive. The programming
style and bugs in the batch file indicates that the Trojan writer appears
to have little programming experience.
RECOVERY:
---------
**WARNING** Do not copy any files onto your hard disk before trying to
recover your hard drive.
The files are deleted with the DOS del command, and can be recovered with
the DOS undelete command. The files are still on your disk, only the
directory entries have been removed. If you copy any new files onto your
hard disk, they will likely be written over the deleted files, making it
impossible to recover the deleted files.
If you have delete protection installed on your system, recovery will be
relatively easy. If not, the DOS undelete command can be used, but you will
have to supply the first letter of each file name as it is recovered. In
many cases, you will probably want to restore the directories by
reinstalling them from the original installation disks, but do that last.
You must recover any unreplaceable files first using undelete and then
replace any others by copying or reinstalling them from the distribution
disks.
To recover the system:
1. Boot the system with a clean, locked floppy containing the recovery
program for the recovery files you have installed, or the DOS UNDELETE.EXE
program if you do not have recovery files installed.
2. Type the VIRUS.BAT file to get a list of the directories the Trojan
tried to delete. Ignore any directories that don't exist on your machine.
3. Run the recovery program and recover your files. You may have to help it
find the recovery files, such as MIRROR, which will be in the root
directory. You may have to recover the MIRROR file first and then use it to
recover the other files.
If you are using only the DOS undelete command, type:
undelete directory
where directory is the name of the directory to examine. To undelete the
files in the dos directory, use:
undelete c:\dos
The undelete program will present you with a list of deleted files with the
first letter replaced with a question mark. Without delete protection, you
will have to supply this letter in order to undelete the file.
4. After you have restored as many files as you want or can using the
UNDELETE command, replace any others by reinstalling them using the
original installation disks.
The Operations staff at America Online has released the following
bulletin to their users:
--BEGIN MESSAGE--
Dear Member:
As you know, we strive to keep you informed on various issues regarding
online safety.
We want to take this opportunity to remind you about potential computer
viruses and Trojan horses and how to protect your computer. First, a virus
is a program that is designed to spread and usually attaches itself to a
program with the goal of spreading to other computers. A Trojan horse is a
program that is intended to corrupt your computer but has to be activated
before it can be executed. For example, a Trojan horse can be distributed as
an attached file to an email but the file has to be downloaded and executed
before harm is done.
If you receive email from unknown senders with an attached file, it is a good
rule of thumb not to download the files. In addition, if you ever receive a
file in email you believe could cause problems, please forward it immediately
to TOSEMAIL1, and explain your concerns to our Terms of Service staff.
We have received recent inquiries regarding a Trojan horse that is sent as an
attached file in an email message entitled "AOLGOLD" and "Install.exe". It is
important to understand that no virus or Trojan horse can be passed along by
simply reading email. However, we strongly urge that if you receive email
with an attached file with this name not to download it.
Due to the private nature of electronic mail, we cannot scan files in email
for viruses as we do with files in public areas of the service.
We have never had an occurrence of a virus or Trojan horse being spread
through simply reading email. In order for one to spread to your computer,
you would have to proactively select the attached file and download it to
your hard drive. It is therefore advisable never to download attached files
from an unknown sender.
AOL incorporates virus protection throughout the service and scans all posted
software, text, and sound files in public areas. We also offer our members
the Virus Information Center on AOL where you'll find information about the
latest virus or Trojan horse, along with updates to all the popular
commercial, shareware, and freeware anti-virus tools. Keyword: VIRUS.
Thank you for taking an active role in maintaining a safe online environment.
Sincerely,
AOL Operations Staff
--END MESSAGE--
_______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC wishes to thank the staff of America Online, especially Mr. Don Bigelow
for
their assistance in providing the information necessary to prepare this
bulletin.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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