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[Metallica]

Content is republished with permission from Malwarebytes.

What is Manuals Aid?

The Malwarebytes research team has determined that Manuals Aid is a browser NewTab. These so-called "NewTabs" can manipulate your browser(s), for example to change your startpage or searchscopes, so that the affected browser visits their site or one of their choice.
This particular one is a newtab hijacker and uses web push notifications.



How do I know if my computer is affected by Manuals Aid?

You may see this browser extension:



these warnings during install:





You may see this icon in your browsers menu-bar:



this new startpage:



and this new setting:



How did Manuals Aid get on my computer?

Browser hijackers use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was downloaded from the webstore:



after a redirect from their website:



How do I remove Manuals Aid?

Our program Malwarebytes can detect and remove this potentially unwanted program.
You can use their own uninstall instructions first, but I would advise to follow the steps below anyway.

• Please download Malwarebytes for Windows to your desktop.
• Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
• When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
• Click on the Get started button.
• Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
• When the scan is finished click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
• Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.

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

• No, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware removes Manuals Aid completely.
• If you have allowed the notifications you can read here how to disable them.

How would the full version of Malwarebytes help protect me?

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

As you can see below the full version of Malwarebytes would have protected you against the Manuals Aid hijacker. It would have warned you before the application could install itself, giving you a chance to stop it before it became too late.

Technical details for experts

Possible signs in FRST logs:

CHR Notifications: Default -> hxxps://manualsaid.com
CHR NewTab: Default ->  Active:"chrome-extension://lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji/html/index.html"
CHR Extension: (Manuals Aid) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji [2020-05-01]

Alterations made by the installer:

File system details [View: All details] (Selection)
---------------------------------------------------
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji\1.0.0.1_0
       Adds the file background.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 11865 bytes, A
       Adds the file configCommunicator.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 986 bytes, A
       Adds the file contentScript.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 5117 bytes, A
       Adds the file manifest.json"="5/1/2020 8:42 AM, 1531 bytes, A
       Adds the file misc.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 1459 bytes, A
       Adds the file util.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 4390 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji\1.0.0.1_0\_metadata
       Adds the file computed_hashes.json"="5/1/2020 8:42 AM, 1634 bytes, A
       Adds the file verified_contents.json"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 2556 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji\1.0.0.1_0\distJs
       Adds the file constants.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 5344 bytes, A
       Adds the file distribution.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 1849 bytes, A
       Adds the file helper.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 16818 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji\1.0.0.1_0\html
       Adds the file index.html"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 161 bytes, A
       Adds the file init.js"="4/9/2020 9:37 AM, 10702 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji\1.0.0.1_0\icons
       Adds the file icon128.png"="5/1/2020 8:42 AM, 3999 bytes, A

Registry details [View: All details] (Selection)
------------------------------------------------
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings]
       "lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji"="REG_SZ", "56C3D4B09057047FA8D33090CE4B7758654107EDC6CA02879FC276E3778015A2"

Malwarebytes log:

Malwarebytes
www.malwarebytes.com

-Log Details-
Scan Date: 5/1/20
Scan Time: 11:50 AM
Log File: 2e992f64-8b91-11ea-bebc-00ffdcc6fdfc.json

-Software Information-
Version: 4.1.0.56
Components Version: 1.0.875
Update Package Version: 1.0.23262
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: 233476
Threats Detected: 5
Threats Quarantined: 5
Time Elapsed: 4 min, 42 sec

-Scan Options-
Memory: Enabled
Startup: Enabled
Filesystem: Enabled
Archives: Enabled
Rootkits: Disabled
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: 1
PUP.Optional.NewTab, HKCU\SOFTWARE\GOOGLE\CHROME\PREFERENCEMACS\Default\extensions.settings|lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji, Quarantined, 328, 816950, , , , 

Registry Data: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Data Stream: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Folder: 1
PUP.Optional.NewTab, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\EXTENSIONS\lgfchlgonpcaplemnpkdaddjjelgflji, Quarantined, 328, 816950, 1.0.23262, , ame, 

File: 3
PUP.Optional.NewTab, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Secure Preferences, Replaced, 328, 816950, , , , 
PUP.Optional.NewTab, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 328, 816950, , , , 
PUP.Optional.NewTab, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 328, 816610, 1.0.23262, , ame, 

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.