What is RecipeSearch?
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that RecipeSearch 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.
How do I know if my computer is affected by RecipeSearch?
You may see these browser extensions/add-ons:
these warnings during install:
this new startpage:
and this new setting:
How did RecipeSearch get on my computer?
Browser hijackers use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was downloaded from their website:
the Chrome extension after a redirect to the webstore:
How do I remove RecipeSearch?
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.
- No, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware removes RecipeSearch completely.
- If your browsers have been hijacked, you should read our Restore Browser page. You can read there how to fix additional browser redirect methods.
We hope our application and this guide have helped you eradicate this hijacker.
As you can see below the full version of Malwarebytes, as well as Browser Guard, would have protected you against the RecipeSearch 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:
FF Homepage: Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{profile}.default -> moz-extension://75100653-7634-4c5c-a964-ed43277b525a/dynamicHomePage.html FF HomepageOverride: Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{profile}.default -> Enabled: [email protected] FF NewTabOverride: Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{profile}.default -> Enabled: [email protected] FF Extension: (MyWay Search By RecipeSearch) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{profile}.default\Extensions\[email protected] [2020-12-15] [UpdateUrl:hxxps:\/\/updates.tb.ask.com\/updateXpi.json?id=224261888&version=9.107.19.17835&track=TTAB03&trackRevision=1&fromId=_ejMembersttab03_%40free.downloadrecipesearch.com&isBridgeExtension=false] CHR NewTab: Default -> Active:"chrome-extension://naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh/ntp1.html" CHR Extension: (RecipeSearch) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh [2020-12-15]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\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\13.958.19.9346_0 Adds the file manifest.json"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 2679 bytes, A Adds the file ntp1.html"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1348 bytes, A Adds the file ntp2.html"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1282 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\13.958.19.9346_0\_locales Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\13.958.19.9346_0\_metadata Adds the file computed_hashes.json"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 8698 bytes, A Adds the file verified_contents.json"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 9288 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\13.958.19.9346_0\config Adds the file config.json"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3112 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\13.958.19.9346_0\icons Adds the file icon128.png"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 5722 bytes, A Adds the file icon16.png"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 475 bytes, A Adds the file icon19disabled.png"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1503 bytes, A Adds the file icon19on.png"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 681 bytes, A Adds the file icon48.png"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 1816 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\13.958.19.9346_0\js Adds the file ajax.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3263 bytes, A Adds the file B2BService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 11775 bytes, A Adds the file babAPI.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 5950 bytes, A Adds the file babClickHandler.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3485 bytes, A Adds the file babContentScript.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 10509 bytes, A Adds the file babContentScriptAPI.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 13191 bytes, A Adds the file babRemoteConfigProcessor.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 4311 bytes, A Adds the file babTypeFactory.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1999 bytes, A Adds the file babTypeInjectionEmbededPage.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3383 bytes, A Adds the file babTypeInjectionIframe.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 2114 bytes, A Adds the file babTypeInjectionIframeAPIProxy.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3160 bytes, A Adds the file babTypeInjectionScript.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 4111 bytes, A Adds the file background.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 30047 bytes, A Adds the file browserUtils.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1896 bytes, A Adds the file chrome.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 146 bytes, A Adds the file contentScriptConnectionManager.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 23601 bytes, A Adds the file dailyContentService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 11632 bytes, A Adds the file dateTimeUtils.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1213 bytes, A Adds the file dlp.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 13393 bytes, A Adds the file dlpHelper.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1717 bytes, A Adds the file extensionDetect.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 4357 bytes, A Adds the file extensionDetectWithHash.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3986 bytes, A Adds the file globalConfigService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1319 bytes, A Adds the file index.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 49 bytes, A Adds the file localStorageContentScript.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 2237 bytes, A Adds the file logger.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 531 bytes, A Adds the file loggingLevelUtils.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1976 bytes, A Adds the file meta.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3300 bytes, A Adds the file newTabPageRedirectHandler.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 2902 bytes, A Adds the file notificationService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 15360 bytes, A Adds the file offerService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 17241 bytes, A Adds the file pageUtils.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 4197 bytes, A Adds the file PartnerId.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 16402 bytes, A Adds the file polyfill.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 875 bytes, A Adds the file product.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 8337 bytes, A Adds the file pTagService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 7300 bytes, A Adds the file remoteConfigLoader.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 6653 bytes, A Adds the file scheduler.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 4419 bytes, A Adds the file splashPageRedirectHandler.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3762 bytes, A Adds the file storageUtils.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 1718 bytes, A Adds the file surveyService.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 5401 bytes, A Adds the file templateParser.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 3153 bytes, A Adds the file ul.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 7044 bytes, A Adds the file urlFragmentActions.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 2453 bytes, A Adds the file urlUtils.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 6382 bytes, A Adds the file util.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 6714 bytes, A Adds the file watchExtensionsHandler.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 10297 bytes, A Adds the file webtooltabAPI.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 12619 bytes, A Adds the file webTooltabAPIProxy.js"="9/30/2020 5:57 PM, 8782 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh Adds the file 000003.log"="12/15/2020 9:08 AM, 10474 bytes, A Adds the file CURRENT"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 16 bytes, A Adds the file LOCK"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 0 bytes, A Adds the file LOG"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 185 bytes, A Adds the file MANIFEST-000001"="12/15/2020 9:06 AM, 41 bytes, A In the existing folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{profile}.default\extensions Adds the file [email protected]"="12/15/2020 9:04 AM, 377016 bytes, A Registry details [View: All details] (Selection) ------------------------------------------------ [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings] "naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh"="REG_SZ", "2A0B8235093FA383B3E116E9A800E34795D5782E3C1829D72D90E94A180B3066"Malwarebytes log:
Malwarebytes www.malwarebytes.com -Log Details- Scan Date: 12/15/20 Scan Time: 9:14 AM Log File: 8a697270-3ead-11eb-9229-080027235d76.json -Software Information- Version: 4.3.0.98 Components Version: 1.0.1130 Update Package Version: 1.0.34373 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: 232225 Threats Detected: 12 Threats Quarantined: 12 Time Elapsed: 3 min, 10 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.MindSpark.Generic, HKCU\SOFTWARE\GOOGLE\CHROME\PREFERENCEMACS\Default\extensions.settings|naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , , Registry Data: 0 (No malicious items detected) Data Stream: 0 (No malicious items detected) Folder: 2 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , , PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\NAIHDMMIFIMAEDMNDPHDLKHPFIMMCHDH, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, 1.0.34373, , ame, , , File: 9 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\ROAMING\MOZILLA\FIREFOX\PROFILES\{profile}.default\EXTENSIONS\[email protected], Quarantined, 1839, 782571, 1.0.34373, , ame, , 66D67A69AEEA41D5CAD8DCBCBCC9C6C5, 5A76233A275E3664A3463764911D11C0005CE31774234C26F7B5BC07433B0F97 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Secure Preferences, Replaced, 1839, 867816, , , , , 08AE88AC5CAC2A4BC47DB21CC4DC8012, 7EB36EF7BAFB249E994DE11996541F05322794B784AED6E37C155CC68F2642A5 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 1839, 867816, , , , , FD8FAC821F5634F3ED7F3F4731F20B68, 675C1A9980EEF595D0711B8A1B2E0F5FA0154A65BBD0C04AFB026C8A3FB41ADF PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\000003.log, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , 9CEF45A4AA24CF1CBB9FE948893B0A61, A8F608BA19D067EFD0D3458DAEA1608F4379D1C37363290E207EE046E3F36C97 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\CURRENT, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , 46295CAC801E5D4857D09837238A6394, 0F1BAD70C7BD1E0A69562853EC529355462FCD0423263A3D39D6D0D70B780443 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\LOCK, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , , PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\LOG, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , E76C76079C00C4C6F527A7FA9653D26E, 8B94127476B9AFD4C31E5B214E736511663F64800A88384CF28BB83FCA380951 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\naihdmmifimaedmndphdlkhpfimmchdh\MANIFEST-000001, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, , , , , 5AF87DFD673BA2115E2FCF5CFDB727AB, F9D31B278E215EB0D0E9CD709EDFA037E828F36214AB7906F612160FEAD4B2B4 PUP.Optional.MindSpark.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\NAIHDMMIFIMAEDMNDPHDLKHPFIMMCHDH\13.958.19.9346_0\MANIFEST.JSON, Quarantined, 1839, 867816, 1.0.34373, , ame, , 80F81DECF5952E389A682B6CC1205F18, D63D1D4BE860517300FDB1A23111E5494DD4E1380EB505E469F3D0BA85ACAA4D 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