Virus: Worm:Win32/Sober.AH@mm

Virus Encyclopedia: Worm:Win32/Sober.AH@mm

Worm:Win32/Sober.AH@mm is a mass-mailing e-mail worm that sends itself in either English or German language e-mail, depending on the domain suffix of the infected user. Typically, the Win32/Sober worm family downloads additional malicious files at pre-determined times and locations. These files are commonly proxies that are used to relay spam from infected systems.

How do I know if my computer is infected?

The following symptoms may be indicative of a Worm:Win32/Sober.AH@mm infection:

Presence of the following subfolder:

%windir%\pooldata\

Presence of the following files in %windir%\pooldata\:

services.exe

smss.exe

csrss.exe

Note: the presence of the filenames themselves are not indicative of infection, unless specifically located in the aforementioned folder.

Presence of the following registry modifications:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

"_WinData" = "%windir%\pooldata\services.exe"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

“Windata” = "%windir%\pooldata\services.exe"

Recovery Instructions

To manually recover from infection by Worm:Win32/Sober.AH@mm, follow these steps:

Disconnect from the Internet.
Restart your computer in safe mode.
End the worm process.
Delete the main worm file from your computer.
Delete the worm registry entries.
Restart your computer.
Take steps to prevent re-infection.

Disconnect from the Internet

To help ensure that the computer is not actively infecting other computers, disconnect it from the Internet before proceeding. Print this Web page or save a copy on your computer; then unplug your network cable and disable your wireless connection. You can reconnect to the Internet after completing these steps.

Restart your computer in safe mode

To start your computer in safe mode

Remove all floppy disks and CDs from the computer, and then restart the computer.
When prompted, press F8. If Windows starts without displaying the Please select the operating system to start menu, restart your computer. Press F8 after the firmware POST process completes, but before Windows displays graphical output.
From the Windows Advanced Options menu, select a safe mode option.

End the worm process

To end the worm process

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
Select the process services.exe if it exists, and click End Process.

Delete the main worm file from your computer

To delete the main worm file from your computer

Click Start, and click Run.
In the Open field, type %windir%\pooldata\services.exe
Click OK.
Click Name to sort files by name.
Delete the file services.exe if it is in the list.
On the Desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and click Empty Recycle Bin.
Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

If deleting the file fails, use the following steps to verify that process services.exe is not running:

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
Confirm that services.exe is not in the list.
Repeat these steps to locate and remove %windir%\pooldata\smss.exe and %windir%\pooldata\csrss.exe

Delete the worm registry entries

Worm:Win32/Sober.AH@mm creates entries in the Windows registry that cause the worm to run each time Windows starts. These entries should be deleted.

To delete the worm registry entries

On the Start menu, click Run.
Type regedit and click OK.
In the left pane, navigate to the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
In the right pane, right-click the following value, if it exists: Windata
Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
In the left pane, navigate to the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
In the right pane, right-click the following value, if it exists: _WinData
Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
Close the Registry Editor.

Restart your computer

To restart your computer

On the Start menu, click Shut Down.
Select Restart from the drop-down list and click OK.