What is Price-Horse?
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that Price-Horse 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 Price-Horse?
You may see this entry in your list of installed programs:
How did Price-Horse get on my computer?
Adware applications use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was bundled with other software.
How do I remove Price-Horse?
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 Price-Horse 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 Price-Horse adware. It would have warned you before the rogue could install itself, giving you a chance to stop it before it became too late.
Technical details for experts
You will see these signs in a HijackThis log:
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Price-Horse] C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\pricehorse.exe
Alterations made by the installer:
File system details --------------------------------------------- Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12 Adds the file 2ib3ffnd.dll"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 202752 bytes, A Adds the file app.ini"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 530 bytes, A Adds the file playsetup.exe"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 502632 bytes, A Adds the file pricehorse.exe"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 627560 bytes, A Adds the file pvVflyji.dll"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 175104 bytes, A Adds the file res.dll"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 195584 bytes, A In the existing folder C:\Windows\System32\Tasks Adds the file Price-Horse"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 3518 bytes, A Adds the file Price-Horse Udpater"="10/10/2014 8:55 AM, 3516 bytes, A Registry details ------------------------------------------ [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\saferev\instl\data] "APPORDR"="REG_SZ", "8D2E71952D85AC3E" "country"="REG_SZ", "" "insllPgLoad"="REG_SZ", "true" "lng"="REG_SZ", "" "prm1"="REG_SZ", "" "prm2"="REG_SZ", "" "prm3"="REG_SZ", "" "prm4"="REG_SZ", "" "prm5"="REG_SZ", "" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\saferev\uninstl] "prchrsmpvn"="REG_SZ", "C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\playsetup.exe" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION] "playsetup.exe"="REG_DWORD", 19000 "pricehorse.exe"="REG_DWORD", 19000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "Price-Horse"="REG_SZ", "C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\pricehorse.exe" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\pricehorse] "DisplayIcon"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\playsetup.exe"" "DisplayName"="REG_SZ", "Price-Horse" "NoModify"="REG_DWORD", 1 "NoRepair"="REG_DWORD", 1 "Publisher"="REG_SZ", "Price-Horse" "UninstallString"="REG_SZ", ""C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\playsetup.exe" /uninstl"Malwarebytes Anti-Malware log:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware www.malwarebytes.org Scan Date: 10/10/2014 Scan Time: 9:04:06 AM Logfile: mbamPriceHorse.txt Administrator: Yes Version: 2.00.3.1024 Malware Database: v2014.10.10.03 Rootkit Database: v2014.10.08.01 License: Free Malware Protection: Disabled Malicious Website Protection: Disabled Self-protection: Disabled OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 CPU: x86 File System: NTFS User: Malwarebytes Scan Type: Threat Scan Result: Completed Objects Scanned: 268288 Time Elapsed: 2 min, 58 sec Memory: Enabled Startup: Enabled Filesystem: Enabled Archives: Enabled Rootkits: Disabled Heuristics: Enabled PUP: Enabled PUM: Enabled Processes: 1 PUP.Optional.PayByAds.A, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\pricehorse.exe, 1140, Delete-on-Reboot, [6c9f0310710b9e98c2a7d8709e67e51b] Modules: 0 (No malicious items detected) Registry Keys: 0 (No malicious items detected) Registry Values: 1 PUP.Optional.PayByAds.A, HKCU\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN|Price-Horse, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\pricehorse.exe, Quarantined, [6c9f0310710b9e98c2a7d8709e67e51b] Registry Data: 0 (No malicious items detected) Folders: 0 (No malicious items detected) Files: 2 PUP.Optional.PayByAds.A, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\pricehorse\pricehorse\1.3.13.12\pricehorse.exe, Delete-on-Reboot, [6c9f0310710b9e98c2a7d8709e67e51b], PUP.Optional.PriceHorse.A, C:\Users\{username}\Desktop\pricehorse_1.3.13.12_cn.exe, Quarantined, [a863b75cf983c571bc4c6eea7789c040], 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