MSNBC Breaking News Removal Guide (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on August 17, 2008 @ 08:08 PM · Views: 3,001

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What this programs does:

There is a SPAM e-mail going around masquerading as an email from MSNBC.com that has a nasty payload of malware if you happen to visit the sites linked to in the e-mail. This SPAM e-mail has a subject of msnbc.com - BREAKING NEWS and pretends to be a news alert from msnbc.com that contains a random news headline with a shocking story title. In the SPAM e-mail are links to the story in case you want to read more, but if you actually click on these links you will instead be brought to a hacked site pretending to be MSNBC.com rather than the legitimate MSNBC site. Once at the site you will be presented with a page imitating MSNBC.com, but there will be a prompt stating that your Adobe Flash it out of date and that you need to install a new version in order to see the content on the page. If you click on the download box, it will prompt you to download adobe_flash.exe on to your computer and install it. The adobe_flash.exe file is detectable by most anti-malware companies as the following names:

If you decide to install adobe_flash.exe a Trojan with the filename of C:\WINDOWS\System32\CbEvtSvc.exe will be installed on your computer. This Trojan will then proceed to download and install further malware on your computer and make a variety of changes. After everything has finished downloading and being installed you will find the following changes on your computer:

• A rogue anti-spyware program called Antivirus XP 2008 that scans your computer and pretends to find installed malware. It then requires you to purchase the program before it will remove any of the fake infections it has found.
  
• Your desktop background will be changed to show a warning stating that you are infected and you will have lost the ability to change it back.
  
• Random fake security alerts will be shown stating that you are infected.
  
• You will not be able to change your screen saver, which has been changed to the SysInternals BlueScreen Screen Saver, which when running, emulates your operating system crashing into a blue screen of death. Some of the messages that will appear on this blue screen are:

  PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
  PANIC_STACK_SWITCH
  MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS_EXCEEDED
  NO_MORE_IRP_STACK_LOCATIONS
  BAD_POOL_HEADER
  IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
  KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
  BOGUS_DRIVER
  SYSINTERNALS_GREAT_SITE
  UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP

  
  Though the screen saver will make it appear that your computer has crashed, and even make it look like your computer is rebooting, in reality it still is only a screen saver. Simply press the space bar and you will go right back to your desktop.
  

MSNBC.com Breaking News SPAM E-mail
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.

As you can see, the malware installed and the changes made are considerable, annoying, and can make your computer slower. The good thing is that they are easily fixed. This guide will walk you through removing the msnbc.com BREAKING NEWS malware pack.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs
• Trojan Horses

Advanced information:

View MSNBC Breaking News files.
View MSNBC Breaking News Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [lphc1cvj0er53] C:\WINDOWS\system32\lphc1cvj0er53.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SMrhc5cvj0er53] C:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\rhc5cvj0er53.exe
O23 - Service: CbEvtSvc - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\System32\CbEvtSvc.exe

Guide Updates:

08/17/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for MSNBC Breaking News using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:

1. Print out these instructions as we will need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
   
   
2. Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop:
   
   Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link
   
   


3. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
   
   
4. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named Download_mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
   
   
5. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button.
   
   
6. MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform quick scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for MSNBC Breaking News related files.
   
   
8. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the MSNBC Breaking News removal process.
   
   
10. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
    
    
11. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
    
    
12. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
    
    
13. You can now exit the MBAM program.
    

Your computer should now be free of the MSNBC Breaking News program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future.

If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:

Preparation Guide For Use Before Posting A Hijackthis Log

Associated MSNBC Breaking News Files:

Some of these entries are random:

c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\database.dat
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\license.txt
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\MFC71.dll
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\MFC71ENU.DLL
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\msvcp71.dll
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\msvcr71.dll
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\rhc5cvj0er53.exe
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\rhc5cvj0er53.exe.local
c:\Program Files\rhc5cvj0er53\Uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\blphc1cvj0er53.scr
c:\WINDOWS\system32\CbEvtSvc.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\lphc1cvj0er53.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\phc1cvj0er53.bmp
c:\WINDOWS\system32\pphc1cvj0er53.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Antivirus XP 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008\Antivirus XP 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008\How to Register Antivirus XP 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008\License Agreement.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008\Register Antivirus XP 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antivirus XP 2008\Uninstall.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun\HKCU
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun\HKCU\RunOnce
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun\HKLM
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun\HKLM\RunOnce
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun\StartMenuAllUsers
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Autorun\StartMenuCurrentUser
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\BrowserObjects
c:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Application Data\rhc5cvj0er53\Quarantine\Packages

Associated MSNBC Breaking News Windows Registry Information:

Some of these entries are random:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sysinternals\Bluescreen Screen Saver
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\rhc5cvj0er53
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\rhc5cvj0er53
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\Root\LEGACY_CBEVTSVC
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\CbEvtSvc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_CBEVTSVC
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CbEvtSvc
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "NoDispBackgroundPage"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "NoDispScrSavPage"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "lphc1cvj0er53"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SMrhc5cvj0er53"