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Mindjail worms way through IRC

Minor irritation

A recent post on Bugtraq (27/06/03) introduced the world to a new worm currently slithering its way through IRC.

Mindjail is a new variant of Backdoor.SdBot code that once activated installs a backdoor into infected systems. IRC channels are scanned by bots seeking users, who are then spammed with the following messages:

1. "EEEEEEETHHHOOOM! MINDJAIL!! HE IS TRAPPED!! GET HIM OUT!"

2. "Ever heard of a thing called mindjail? Check it"

Both messages are followed by a link to a file called mindjail.zip. The zip file contains a HTML file, "mindjail.html" which executes JavaScript code on vulnerable systems. On execution, the backdoor code copies itself to the Sysdir folder and modifies the Registry to be executed on every system start up:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "hpsched"
Type: REG_SZ
Data: hpsched.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RUNServices
"hpsched"
Type: REG_SZ
Data: hpsched.exe

As of today, most Anti Virus scanners fail to detect either the exploit code or the backdoor Trojan. A detection and removal tool has been produced by Paolo Monti and is currently available for download
here.

As ever, the best advice is to avoid clicking suspicious looking links in IRC (or anywhere else), check your Registry, and patch IE properly. ®

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