RE: computer with rootkit?

["Mikesch, David A" <dave_mikesch () baxter com>]

You need to bypass the OS to find the rootkit. If you bypass the OS, the rootkit won't load and keep hiding itself.

I suggest one of two ways:
1) Image the machine and then examine the image. Whatever program you use to image it, make sure it images *everything* 
- a bit by bit copy. RK's hide in all kinds of places, so be sure to check the MBR, slackspace, and in alternate data 
streams, after you check for files in the normal places.
2) Boot from a bootable CD or USB drive, preferably with a Linux based system. There are plenty of free ones on the net.

Dave Mikesch
GCIH, GREM, GCFE

-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com] On Behalf Of Francois Yang
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 11:58 AM
To: security basics
Subject: computer with rootkit?

I have a computer with Winxp.
I believe it has a rootkit on it and I'm trying to figure out if
there's a way to find out what it is instead of just wiping the box
clean.
I want to find out what it is and maybe it will give me an idea of how
the computer got infected in the first place so I can prevent others
from getting infected with the same malware.

the rootkit or malware deletes any AV you throw at it.
I tried Symantec, Kaspersky and even Malwarebyte.  Once installed they
automatically get deleted.
when I try to launch tools from the sysinternals suite they close
right after they open or won't open at all.
I tried to launch, process explorer, process monitor, autorun and none
of them worked at first.
I ran msconfig and disabled all startup items and disabled all
services from launching.
when I rebooted, I got the same issue with launching any of the tools.
however, when I used the Desktops utility from Sysinsternals, and
launched the tools from another window, some of them worked.
Process explorer and Process monitor worked, but since most of the
services and startup were disabled, they didn't see much.
autorun would not load at all.

I also ran Gmer and it would run for awhile until it hit something
then it would die.
Gmer did find a suspicious process that pointed to the c:\windows\ directory.
the process is 784049767:255598753.exe
If I move the file from the c:\windows directory to the desktop and
kill the process, it restarts pointing to the file on the desktop.
If I delete the file, it creates a new one with the same name in the
c:\windows directory.
the process is also tied to the lybraries, ntdl.dll and kernel32.dll.

This is probably out of my league, but I'm still interested to figure
out what it is and what it's trying to do.

anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do?

thanks.

Frank

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