What is maintenance software?
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that maintenance software is adware. These adware applications display advertisements not originating from the sites you are browsing.
How do I know if my computer is affected by maintenance software?
You may see this warning during install:
and this entry in your list of installed programs:
The adware opens a new tab or window of your default browser every few minutes to display advertisements:
some of which leading to potentially malicious sites, blocked by teh Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Web Protection Module:
How did maintenance software get on my computer?
Adware applications use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was bundled with other software.
How do I remove maintenance software?
Our program Malwarebytes Anti-Malware can detect and remove this potentially unwanted program.
- Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to your desktop.
- Double-click mbam-setup-version.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
- At the end, be sure a check-mark is placed next to the following:
- Enable free trial of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Premium
- Launch Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
- Then click Finish.
- If an update is found, you will be prompted to download and install the latest version.
- Once the program has loaded, select Scan now. Or select the Threat Scan from the Scan menu.
- When the scan is complete , make sure that everything is set to "Quarantine", and click Apply Actions.
- Reboot your computer if prompted.
- No, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware removes maintenance software completely.
We hope our application and this guide have helped you eradicate this hijacker.
As you can see below the full version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware would have protected you against the maintenance software adware. It would have warned you before the adware could install itself, giving you a chance to stop it before it became too late.
Technical details for experts
Possible signs in FRST logs:
() C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\comowin.exe HKLM-x32\...\Run: [maintenance software] => "C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\maintenance software" C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612 C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software maintenance software version 1.0 (HKLM-x32\...\maintenance software_is1) (Version: 1.0 - azec)Alterations made by the installer:
File system details [View: All details] (Selection) --------------------------------------------------- Adds the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software Adds the file comowin.exe"="6/12/2016 11:18 AM, 3650560 bytes, A Adds the file unins000.dat"="6/20/2016 8:30 AM, 2307 bytes, A Adds the file unins000.exe"="6/20/2016 8:29 AM, 718503 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612\tuto_monetize_220160612\2.00 Adds the file cnf.cyl"="6/20/2016 8:30 AM, 131 bytes, A Adds the file eorezo.cyl"="6/20/2016 8:31 AM, 69 bytes, A Registry details [View: All details] (Selection) ------------------------------------------------ [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "maintenance software"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\maintenance software"" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\maintenance software_is1] "DisplayName"="REG_SZ", "maintenance software version 1.0" "DisplayVersion"="REG_SZ", "1.0" "EstimatedSize"="REG_DWORD", 4255 "Inno Setup: App Path"="REG_SZ", "C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software" "Inno Setup: Icon Group"="REG_SZ", "maintenance software" "Inno Setup: Language"="REG_SZ", "english" "Inno Setup: Setup Version"="REG_SZ", "5.5.4 (a)" "Inno Setup: User"="REG_SZ", "{username}" "InstallDate"="REG_SZ", "20160620" "InstallLocation"="REG_SZ", "C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\" "MajorVersion"="REG_DWORD", 1 "MinorVersion"="REG_DWORD", 0 "NoModify"="REG_DWORD", 1 "NoRepair"="REG_DWORD", 1 "Publisher"="REG_SZ", "azec" "QuietUninstallString"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\unins000.exe" /SILENT" "UninstallString"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\unins000.exe""Malwarebytes Anti-Malware log:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware www.malwarebytes.org Scan Date: 6/20/2016 Scan Time: 9:05 AM Logfile: mbamMaintenanceSoftware.txt Administrator: Yes Version: 2.2.1.1043 Malware Database: v2016.06.20.01 Rootkit Database: v2016.05.27.01 License: Premium Malware Protection: Disabled Malicious Website Protection: Enabled Self-protection: Enabled OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 CPU: x64 File System: NTFS User: {username} Scan Type: Threat Scan Result: Completed Objects Scanned: 313438 Time Elapsed: 11 min, 33 sec Memory: Enabled Startup: Enabled Filesystem: Enabled Archives: Enabled Rootkits: Enabled Heuristics: Enabled PUP: Enabled PUM: Enabled Processes: 1 PUP.Optional.EoRezo, C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\comowin.exe, 3108, Delete-on-Reboot, [0f222dd24455ef47e165b650c04018e8] Modules: 0 (No malicious items detected) Registry Keys: 1 PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\UNINSTALL\maintenance software_is1, Quarantined, [b97855aaf2a740f6616a2b67e32132ce], Registry Values: 1 PUP.Optional.EoRezo, HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN|maintenance software, "C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\maintenance software", Quarantined, [60d1ca35e2b745f103e428ca966dab55] Registry Data: 0 (No malicious items detected) Folders: 4 PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612, Quarantined, [3af7a05f5a3f82b47ed7417f0ff3d030], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612\tuto_monetize_220160612, Quarantined, [3af7a05f5a3f82b47ed7417f0ff3d030], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612\tuto_monetize_220160612\2.00, Quarantined, [3af7a05f5a3f82b47ed7417f0ff3d030], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software, Delete-on-Reboot, [b97855aaf2a740f6616a2b67e32132ce], Files: 6 PUP.Optional.EoRezo, C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\comowin.exe, Delete-on-Reboot, [0f222dd24455ef47e165b650c04018e8], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Users\{username}\Desktop\MaintenanceSoftware.exe, Quarantined, [45ec37c8f2a7da5c1f178b5b5aa75aa6], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612\tuto_monetize_220160612\2.00\cnf.cyl, Quarantined, [3af7a05f5a3f82b47ed7417f0ff3d030], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\tuto_monetize_220160612\tuto_monetize_220160612\2.00\eorezo.cyl, Quarantined, [3af7a05f5a3f82b47ed7417f0ff3d030], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\unins000.dat, Quarantined, [b97855aaf2a740f6616a2b67e32132ce], PUP.Optional.Tuto4PC, C:\Program Files (x86)\maintenance software\unins000.exe, Quarantined, [b97855aaf2a740f6616a2b67e32132ce], Physical Sectors: 0 (No malicious items detected) (end)As mentioned before the full version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware could have protected your computer against this threat.
We use different ways of protecting your computer(s):
- Dynamically Blocks Malware Sites & Servers
- Malware Execution Prevention