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I suspect I might be infected with undetected Mining Software

Euronius
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Euronius

Euronius

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Hi.

I made a longwinded post, offering as much context as I could, but it wouldn't let me post it, since it was falsely flagged as $pam.

Here's the short of it:

I'm an avid gamer. But, recently, every time I launch a game, the FPS fluctuates between 'expected' and 'unreasonably low'. 

Did a bit of digging of my own, turns out my CPU usage shoots up considerably high during gametime. 

Now here's the kicker, every time I launch Task Manager, everything settles back to normal. This alone made me suspect I might be infected with one of those pesky miners that hide themselves when you open Task Manager. 

I already ran multiple scans with Malwarebytes, Microsoft Defender, AdwCleaner, Unhack Me etc. Nothing ever comes up.

Even used DDU and re-installed my GPU drivers, in hopes of this being just a graphics driver bug. The issue persisted.

At next boot, I used Microsoft's Process Explorer and fired up a game just to see if the potential malware might show up. This is what came up (attached image to this post).

The miner might potentially be disguising itself as WerFault.exe. So, I ran the "SFC /scannow" command, but everything came up okay. Rebooted and tried this multiple times, just to confirm. Same issue, with one slight variation: the PID keeps changing every time. Again, when opening Task Manager, everything goes back to normal and WerFault.exe disappears. 

I'm at a loss at this point. Any help on how to proceed from here would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time in reading this.

cpu usage.jpg

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JSntgRvr

JSntgRvr

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Welcome smile.png
 

Please read this post completely before beginning. If there's anything that you do not understand, please don't hesitate to ask before proceeding.
 
Please take note of the guidelines for this fix:

  • Please note that I am a volunteer. I do have a family, a career, and other endeavors that may prevent immediate responses that meet your schedule. Do note that the differences in time zones could present a problem as well. Your patience and understanding will be greatly appreciated.
  • First of all, the procedures we are about to perform are specific to your problem and should only be used on this specific computer.
  • Do not make any changes to your computer that include installing/uninstalling programs, deleting files, modifying the registry, nor running scanners or tools of any kind unless specifically requested by me.
  • Please read ALL instructions carefully and perform the steps fully and in the order they are written.
  • If things appear to be better, let me know. Just because the symptoms no longer exist as before, does not mean that you are clean.
  • Continue to read and follow my instructions until I tell you that your machine is clean.
  • If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask before performing the task that I ask of you, and please wait for my reply before you proceed.
  • Scanning with programs and reading the logs do take a fair amount of time. Again, your patience will be necessary. smile.png

Let's begin... 

This Fix will empty the following folders:

  • Windows Temp
  • Users Temp folders
  • Edge, IE, FF, Chrome, and Opera caches, HTML5 storages, Cookies and History
  • Recently opened files cache
  • Discord cache
  • Java cache
  • Steam HTML cache
  • Explorer thumbnail and icon cache
  • BITS transfer queue (qmgr*.dat files)
  • Recycle Bin

Important: items are permanently deleted. They are not moved to quarantine. If you have any questions or concerns please ask before running this fix.

The system will be rebooted after the fix has run. 

  • Download the enclosed file  Fixlist.txt
  • Save it in the same location FRST64.exe is saved  
  • Start FRST (FRST64) with Administrator privileges
  • This time around Press the Fix button and wait
  • When finished, a log file (Fixlog.txt) will pop up and saved in the same location the tool was ran from.

Please attach this file in your next reply.

 

Attach the resulting reports.

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Euronius

Euronius

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Thank you for taking the time to respond!

I've gone ahead and applied the fix provided and attached the text file log to this post. 

(Please note that "writer.exe" was a legitimate file belonging to RawAccel software, that I had manually put in the startup folder but will await until issue is resolved to do so again).

Fixlog.txt

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Euronius

Euronius

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Just now, JSntgRvr said:

It is done. How is the computer doing?

I just tested it earlier, but the same issue still persists. Will try rebooting once again and using Process Explorer and see if I catch anything.

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JSntgRvr

JSntgRvr

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WerFault.exe is a legitimate file. Lets try another scanner:

Dr.Web CureIt!

Please download the Dr.Web CureIt! anti-virus utility
https://free.drweb.com/

 

You will need to send them an email to obtain a link to download the scanner, please do so

  • The downloaded file will normally have a unique name such as:  q7a9tr4p.exe
  • Close all open applications and locate the downloaded file and double-click to run it
  • The program will take a moment to launch and bring up the License and Update screen
  • Place a check mark to agree to the terms and then click on the Continue button
  • Click the underlined link Select objects for scanning
  • On the top left click the Scanning objects that should automatically check all objects
  • Click the small wrench and make sure there is a check on Automatically apply actions to threats
  • Then click the large button on bottom right Start scanning
  • Once the scan has completed there will be a link named Open report click that and a log named cureit.log should open in Notepad
  • The log is saved in the folder named Doctor Web in the top of your user profile folders
  • Please attach that log on your next reply

 

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Euronius

Euronius

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I've gone ahead and signed up for the Dr.Web CureIt software. Still waiting for the download link to be emailed to me.

And yeah, I did look into WerFault.exe. Apparently it is a legitimate software of Windows used for error reporting, but I find it extremely suspicious how it only starts when I fire up a game and disappears when I check Task Manager. If I don't open Task Manager, it stays there indefinitely. Exactly how you'd expect an incognito malware to behave.

While we're waiting on the download it, just wanna say thank you for taking the time out of your day to help me out. It means a lot!

cpu usage.jpg

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Euronius

Euronius

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5 minutes ago, JSntgRvr said:

Open FRST64. On the box next to Search, copy and paste the following:

Searchall: libedajeiljdoodmokbppgapcfbignci

Click on Search Files. A report should be generated, Search.txt. Attach that report to your reply.

It doesn't open anymore, strangely enough. I tried double clicking; right click > open as admin; even downloaded a brand new FRST64.exe, it still refuses to open.

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JSntgRvr

JSntgRvr

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1. Download AV block remover, extract its contents to its own folder. https://www.safezone.cc/resources/av-block-remover-avbr.224/download
2. If the file is detected as a threat, allow it to run.
3. Run AVbr.exe. Put a check mark on drive C:.
4. If running AVbr.exe cause error or don't start at all you have to rename it to any name and try to run from the different place (you can rename its folder as well).
5. If it is still not run or closing shortly after the start, please run it in Safe Mode with Networking.

Follow the instructions. After rebooting a log AV_block_remove_date-time.log  is produced in the extracted folder's AV_block_remover sub-folder. Please attach this file to your reply.

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JSntgRvr

JSntgRvr

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The offending extension was not deleted. Lets use FRST64 to remove it.

  • Download the enclosed file  Fixlist.txt
  • Save it in the same location FRST64.exe is saved  
  • Start FRST (FRST64) with Administrator privileges
  • This time around Press the Fix button and wait
  • When finished, a log file (Fixlog.txt) will pop up and saved in the same location the tool was ran from.

Please attach this file in your next reply.

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Euronius

Euronius

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4 minutes ago, JSntgRvr said:

How is it feeling? Any improvement?

Nothing's changed, unfortunately. Same issue and behavior as before. WerFault.exe pops up when I launch a game and disappears the moment I open Task Manager and everything goes back to normal. 

Once again, I really appreciate your time in trying to help me!

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JSntgRvr

JSntgRvr

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Lets make sure is running from the System32 folder:

Open FRST64. On the box next to Search, copy and paste the following:

Searchall: WerFault.exe

Click on Search Files. A report should be generated, Search.txt. Attach that report to your reply.

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