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Hi all,
I have received a message addressed to this list with an encoded file
labeled Happy99.exe. Please do not attempt to execute this file.
I have been informed of a new email virus-like program (worm)that you
should be aware of. The following description was taken off the McAfee
web site which is very credible. Please read on.
..................... dennis
[FROM www.mcafee.com]
W32/Ska is a worm that was first posted to several newsgroups and has been
reported to several of the AVERT Labs locations worldwide. When this worm
is run it displays a message "Happy New Year 1999!!" and displays
"fireworks" graphics. The posting on the newsgroups has lead to its
propagation. It can also spread on its own, as it can attached itself to a
mail message and be sent unknowingly by a user. Because of this attribute
it is also considered to be a worm.
AVERT cautions all users who may receive the attachment via email to
simply delete the mail and the attachment. The worm infects a system via
email delivery and arrives as an attachment called Happy99.EXE. It is sent
unknowingly by a user. When the program is run it deploys its payload
displaying fireworks on the users monitor.
Note: At this time no destructive payload has been discovered.
When the Happy.EXE is run it copies itself to Windows\System folder under
the name SKA.EXE. It then extracts, from within itself, a DLL called SKA.DLL
into the Windows\System folder if one does not already exist.
Note: Though the SKA.EXE file file is a copy of the original it does not run
as the Happy.EXE files does, so it does not copy itself again, nor does it
display the fireworks on the users monitor.
The worm then checks for the existence of WSOCK32.SKA in the Windows\System
folder, if it does not exist and a the file WSOCK32.DLL does exist, it copies
the WSOCK32.DLL to WSOCK32.SKA.
The worm then creates the registry entry -
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Ska.exe="Ska.exe"
- which will execute SKA.EXE the next time the system is restarted. When
this happens the worm patches WSOCK32.DLL and adds hooks to the exported
functions EnumProtocolsW and WSAAsyncGetProtocolByName.
The patched code calls two exported functions in SKA.DLL called mail and news,
these functions allow the worm to attach itself to SMTP e-mail and also to
any postings to newsgroups the user makes.
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