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[Metallica]

Content is republished with permission from Malwarebytes.

What is AppMaster?

The Malwarebytes research team has determined that AppMaster 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 AppMaster?

You may see these unexpected advertisements on an affected machine.
And users may see one or more running processes named AppMaster.exe



Adware applications use different methods for distributing themselves. The bundler that included this one was downloaded from one of their websites.



How do I remove AppMaster?

Our program Malwarebytes can detect and remove this potentially unwanted program.

• Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop.
• Double-click mb3-setup-consumer-{version}.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
• Then click Finish.
• Once the program has fully updated, select Scan Now on the Dashboard. Or select the Threat Scan from the Scan menu.
• If another update of the definitions is available, it will be implemented before the rest of the scanning procedure.
• When the scan is complete, make sure that all Threats are selected, and click Remove Selected.
• Restart your computer when prompted to do so.

Is there anything else I need to do to get rid of AppMaster?

• No, Malwarebytes removes AppMaster completely.

How would the full version of Malwarebytes help protect me?

We hope our application and this guide have helped you eradicate this adware.

As you can see below the full version of Malwarebytes would have protected you against the AppMaster adware. It would have blocked the installer before it became too late.

And we block access to the websites that we found providing installers for this potentially unwanted program.

Technical details for experts

Possible signs in FRST logs:

() C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp\IXP000.TMP\AppMaster.exe
HKLM\...\RunOnce: [wextract_cleanup0] => rundll32.exe C:\Windows\system32\advpack.dll,DelNodeRunDLL32 "C:\Users\{username}1\AppData\Local\Temp\IXP000.TMP\" <===== ATTENTION
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster

Significant changes made by the installer:

File system details [View: All details] (Selection)
---------------------------------------------------
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster
       Adds the file AppMaster.exe"="6/15/2017 5:49 PM, 2218504 bytes
       Adds the file AppMaster.exe.config"="6/15/2017 5:27 PM, 240 bytes
       Adds the file pref.txt"="9/13/2018 10:51 AM, 75 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\Resources\PdfPro100
       Adds the file shortcut.ico"="9/13/2018 10:51 AM, 32038 bytes, A

Registry details [View: All details] (Selection)
------------------------------------------------
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
       "wextract_cleanup0"="REG_SZ", "rundll32.exe C:\Windows\system32\advpack.dll,DelNodeRunDLL32 "C:\Users\{username}1\AppData\Local\Temp\IXP000.TMP\""
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_AJAX_CONNECTIONEVENTS]
       "AppMaster.exe"="REG_DWORD", 1
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION]
       "AppMaster.exe"="REG_DWORD", 9000
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_ENABLE_CLIPCHILDREN_OPTIMIZATION]
       "AppMaster.exe"="REG_DWORD", 1
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_GPU_RENDERING]
       "AppMaster.exe"="REG_DWORD", 1
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_NINPUT_LEGACYMODE]
       "AppMaster.exe"="REG_DWORD", 0
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_WEBOC_DOCUMENT_ZOOM]
       "AppMaster.exe"="REG_DWORD", 1

Malwarebytes log:

Malwarebytes
www.malwarebytes.com

-Log Details-
Scan Date: 9/13/18
Scan Time: 10:55 AM
Log File: c314ff23-b732-11e8-a33c-00ffdcc6fdfc.json

-Software Information-
Version: 3.5.1.2522
Components Version: 1.0.441
Update Package Version: 1.0.6803
License: Premium

-System Information-
OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1
CPU: x64
File System: NTFS
User: {computername}\{username}

-Scan Summary-
Scan Type: Threat Scan
Scan Initiated By: Manual
Result: Completed
Objects Scanned: 252102
Threats Detected: 7
Threats Quarantined: 7
Time Elapsed: 3 min, 11 sec

-Scan Options-
Memory: Enabled
Startup: Enabled
Filesystem: Enabled
Archives: Enabled
Rootkits: Enabled
Heuristics: Enabled
PUP: Detect
PUM: Detect

-Scan Details-
Process: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Module: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Key: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Value: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Data: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Data Stream: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Folder: 3
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\Resources\PdfPro100, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\Resources, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\ROAMING\APPMASTER, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803

File: 4
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\Resources\PdfPro100\shortcut.ico, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\AppMaster.exe, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\AppMaster.exe.config, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803
PUP.Optional.AppMaster, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\AppMaster\pref.txt, Delete-on-Reboot, [760], [559415],1.0.6803

Physical Sector: 0
(No malicious items detected)

WMI: 0
(No malicious items detected)


(end)

As mentioned before the full version of Malwarebytes 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

Save yourself the hassle and get protected.