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Malicious Software Encyclopedia: Win32/Sasser
Published: January 11, 2005
Win32/Sasser is a family of network worms that exploit the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) vulnerability fixed in Microsoft Security Update MS04-011. The worm spreads by randomly scanning IP addresses for vulnerable machines and infecting any that are found.
Severity
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Glossary Terms
Click the term to get the definition from our Security Glossary.
• Trojan horse
• virus
• worm
On This Page
Threat Overview
Aliases (Also Known As)
Related Security Bulletins
Technical Analysis
How to Prevent Infection
How to Tell If Your Computer Is Infected
How to Recover from Infection
Transmission Methods
Threat Overview
Class/type Worm - Network
Exploit - Generic
Discovered April 30, 2004
Circulating Yes
Child variants Win32/Sasser.A.worm
Win32/Sasser.B.worm
Win32/Sasser.C.worm
Win32/Sasser.D.worm
Win32/Sasser.E.worm
Win32/Sasser.F.worm
Win32/Sasser.G.worm
Affected operating systems Windows 2000
Windows XP
Affected software Not specified
Infection rating Medium
Recovery difficulty Moderate
Damage rating Medium
Transmission rating High
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Aliases (Also Known As)
Different antivirus vendors may be using different names to refer to this malicious software. Here are some of the names currently in use by antivirus software vendors cenzura! in the Microsoft Virus Information Alliance (VIA):
Computer Associates: Win32.Sasser
F-secure: Sasser
McAfee: W32/Sasser.worm
Norman: W32/Sasser
Panda: Sasser
Sophos: W32/Sasser
Symantec: W32.Sasser.Worm
Trend Micro: WORM_SASSER
Learn more about the Microsoft Virus Information Alliance.
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Related Security Bulletins
The following Microsoft Security bulletins are related to this issue:
MS04-011 - Security Update for Microsoft Windows (835732)
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Technical Analysis
When Win32/Sasser runs on a computer, it copies itself to the %WINDOWS% folder. In most cases, it adds a value to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. This value causes the worm to start when Windows is started.
Win32/Sasser acts as an FTP server listening on TCP port 5554. For each connection made on this port, the worm sends a copy of itself to that connected host using the file name <random number>_up.exe.
The worm generates random IP addresses using a certain logic and then sends the exploit shell code to these IP addresses on TCP port 445. If the exploit is successful, a command line shell listens on a TCP port of the remote infected machine. To complete the infection, the worm executes a remote shell script that instructs the newly infected machine to connect to the infecting host and download and execute the worm through FTP. The worm records the count of successful infections to a file on the C: drive.
Win32/Sasser also attempts to abort any unexpected system shutdown by calling AbortSystemShutdown every several seconds in a continuous loop.
Later variants of the worm may drop a variant of Netsky worm. Later variants may not infect Windows 2000 because they import IcmpSendEcho from IPHlpAPI.dll, which is not present in Windows 2000.
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How to Prevent Infection
Take the following steps to prevent infection from Win32/Sasser:
Enable a firewall on your computer
Install the MS04-011 security update
Use up-to-date antivirus software
Enable a firewall on your computer
Win32/Sasser cannot infect computers running a firewall that blocks traffic on port 445. Use a third-party firewall product or turn on the Microsoft® Windows® XP Internet Connection Firewall.
To turn on the Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP
Click Start, and click Control Panel.
Click Network and Internet Connections, and click Network Connections. If you do not see Network and Internet Connections, click Switch to Category View.
Highlight a connection that you want to help protect, and click Change settings of this connection.
Click Advanced, and select Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet.
Click OK.
Install the MS04-011 security update
Win32/Sasser exploits a Windows vulnerability on computers that do not have the MS04-011 security update installed. Installing the security update helps to prevent infection by Win32/Sasser. You can install the MS04-011 security update using Windows Update.
To install the MS04-011 security update using Windows Update
Go to the Windows Update Web site at windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
On the Windows Update site, click Scan for Updates. Windows Update scans your computer and returns a list of critical updates, including service packs.
In the Pick updates to install list, click Critical Updates and Service Packs. Windows Update creates a list of the updates appropriate for your computer, including MS04-011 if it is not installed. Critical updates are selected for download automatically.
Click Review and install updates, and then click Install Now. You may need to restart your computer after installing the updates.
You should also turn on Automatic Updates so that your computer is automatically updated with the latest critical security updates.
To turn on Automatic Updates
Click Start, and click Control Panel.
Click Performance and Maintenance. If you do not see Performance and Maintenance , click Switch to Category View.
Click System.
Click Automatic Updates, and select Keep my computer up to date.
Select a setting. Microsoft recommends selecting Automatically download the updates, and install them on the schedule that I specify and setting a regular update time.
If you choose to have Automatic Updates notify you in step 5, you will see a notification balloon when new downloads are available to install. Click the notification balloon to review and install updates.
Use up-to-date antivirus software
Most antivirus software can detect and prevent infection by known malicious software. You should always run antivirus software on your computer that is updated with the latest signature files to automatically help protect you from infection.
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How to Tell If Your Computer Is Infected
Your computer may be infected with Win32/Sasser if you experience one or more of the following symptoms:
You see an LSA Shell crash dialog box similar to the following screenshot:
Your computer restarts every few minutes without user interaction. You may see a system shutdown dialog box, similar to the following screenshot:
Your computer performance is decreased or your network connection is slow.
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How to Recover from Infection
Automatic Recovery
To attempt to automatically remove this threat, run one of the following removal tools:
Microsoft
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Transmission Methods
Method Description
Exploits Vulnerability Exploits LSASS buffer overrun vulnerability (MS04-011) on unpatched Windows 2000 and Windows systems.
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w tym byl problem przeczytaj wkleilem loga.
wesolych swiat zycze wszystkim
jeszcze jedna uwaga dlaczego po kazdym przeinstalowaniu windows pojawia sie ten virus a pozniej juz go nie ma dlaczego tak jest pozdrawiam.
[ Dodano: Dzisiaj o 23:12 ]dobra to co wkleilem oki nie da sie nic ztym zrobic.
po pierwsze moj komp sie resetuje i nic z tym nie zrobie nie wiem dlaczego sie resetuje.
po drugie sprawdzalem programem speedfan tempature procka i ta temperatura mi skacze raz 18 raz 14 i tak dalej pozdrawiam windowsa xp nie zainstaluje musze miec ten system i nic wiecej.
jak sobie kupie nowy komputer to bede mial xp.
pozdrawiam.