Oh snap...

Of all the days for this to happen, it had to happen on a Friday...

Anyway, at the beginning of this summer, I started working as an intern at a small office. This office contains six networked machines held together by a single server, which was, this morning (according to CBL) infected with the rustock spamBOT at 12:00 GMT (6:00 a.m. local time), while no one was most likely in the office. I'm not entirely sure how it was infected, but I'll worry about that later. The CBL report suggested that we run the "Microsoft MSRT," which has been running for an hour and then some already. I went ahead and started up MBAM, but after a little while, I got curious and started poking around in the system information and the list of programs. What I found was that the last time the server had been updated was December 12th, 2007. My guess is that MSRT won't be able to pick out the spamBOT until the system has been fully updated.

So! I am now at a crossroads. Do I continue with the MSRT, or do I update the system to the most recent patch? Writing this out more or less makes me feel like a fool for doing so, but I just wanted a second opinion.

As for the system information...

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for small business
Service Pack 1
Pentium D, 3.00 GHz
2.00 Gb of RAM

Do I need anything else in the system information, or is that everything?

Hello and welcome. I guess give it a couple hours.
Please run these next. If you have Spybot installed temporarily disable it.
Next run ATF:
Note: On Vista, "Windows Temp" is disabled. To empty "Windows Temp" ATF-Cleaner must be "Run as an Administrator".

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune & save it to your desktop.

• Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
• Under Main "Select Files to Delete" choose: Select All.
• Click the Empty Selected button.
• If you use Firefox browser click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
• If you use Opera browser click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
• Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

Next run MBAM (MalwareBytes):

NOTE: Before saving MBAM please rename it to zztoy.exe....now save it to your desktop.

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and save it to your desktop.
alternate download link 1
alternate download link 2

MBAM may "make changes to your registry" as part of its disinfection routine. If using other security programs that detect registry changes (ie Spybot's Teatimer), they may interfere or alert you. Temporarily disable such programs or permit them to allow the changes.

• Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
• Double-click on 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 definition 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 Scan" option is selected.
• Then click on the Scan button.
• If asked 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.
• The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
• Copy and paste the contents of that report in your next reply. Be sure to post the complete log to include the top portion which shows MBAM's database version and your operating system.
• Exit MBAM when done.

Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be asked to reboot your computer so MBAM can proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot normally (not into safe mode) will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware.

As I suspected, MSRT didn't find anything. What I was not expecting was MBAM to not find anything either. Is it possible that the rustock spamBOT is capable of spreading itself to other machines linked on the server, while not leaving a trace of itself on the originally infected computer?

In any case, here's the logfile.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.39
Database version: 2494
Windows 5.2.3790 Service Pack 1

7/24/2009 4:10:47 PM
mbam-log-2009-07-24 (16-10-47).txt

Scan type: Quick Scan
Objects scanned: 98874
Time elapsed: 5 minute(s), 30 second(s)

Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 0
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 0
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 0

Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Keys Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data Items Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

Files Infected:
(No malicious items detected)

What antivirus is running on here,that showed it first and what did it do with it?

WE should also run these.
Next run ATF and SAS:

Note: On Vista, "Windows Temp" is disabled. To empty "Windows Temp" ATF-Cleaner must be "Run as an Administrator".

From your regular user account..
Download Attribune's ATF Cleaner and then SUPERAntiSpyware , Free Home Version. Save both to desktop ..
DO NOT run yet.
Open SUPER from icon and install and Update it
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 and exit the program. DO NOT run yet.

Now reboot into Safe Mode: How to enter safe mode(XP)
Using the F8 Method
Restart your computer.
When the machine first starts again it will generally list some equipment that is installed in your machine, amount of memory, hard drives installed etc. At this point you should gently tap the F8 key repeatedly until you are presented with a Windows XP Advanced Options menu.
Select the option for Safe Mode using the arrow keys.
Then press enter on your keyboard to boot into Safe Mode.

Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
Under Main "Select Files to Delete" choose: Select All.
Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox or Opera browser click that browser at the top and choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

NOW Scan with SUPER
Open from the desktop icon or the program Files list
On the left, make sure you check C:\Fixed Drive.
Perform a Complete scan. After scan,Verify they are all checked.
Click OK on the summary screen to quarantine all found items.
If asked if you want to reboot, click "Yes" and reboot normally.

To retrieve the removal information after reboot, launch SUPERAntispyware again.
Click Preferences, then click the Statistics/Logs tab.
Under Scanner Logs, double-click SUPERAntiSpyware Scan Log.
If there are several logs, click the current dated log and press View log.
A text file will open in your default text editor.
Please copy and paste the Scan Log results in your next reply.
Click Close to exit the program.


Please ask any needed questions,post logs and Let us know how the PC is running now.

I'm really sorry about this, but the company I work for contacted me late last night, and they told me that the next time I'm going to be able to work on the server would be the 14th of August, because they have two large bids going out. Until that day passes, I will not be allowed to really mess with the server whatsoever. I will be watching for any anomalies in the mailing system, and when the time comes, I will start working on it again, but until then...

In any case, thanks for all your help and support, and I'm sorry for wasting your time helping me.

Well we do appreciate you leyying us know.. Good kuck.