Win32:Karagany-MX

Posted: November 9, 2012

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	178

First Seen:	November 9, 2012
Last Seen:	June 20, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Win32:Karagany-MX is a Trojan that launches a variant of the Citadel Trojan that appears to have been coded incompletely and, thus, is incapable of compromising your computer. However, current Win32:Karagany-MX attacks are likely just to be a single step in the ongoing development of this attack method, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers always recommend that you delete Win32:Karagany-MX and its fellow Trojan posthaste. Because Win32:Karagany-MX is designed to enable security compromises without any visible symptoms, you should use anti-malware programs as necessary to detect Win32:Karagany-MX, although avoiding Win32:Karagany-MX's distribution methods – which currently are spam e-mail messages – should be considered preferable.

Refusing the Call When Win32:Karagany-MX Phones Home

Win32:Karagany-MX uses well-crafted e-mail spam to distribute itself in the form of a fake JPG file (actually an EXE that has been renamed to use the .JPG extension). These e-mail messages allege to be from Vodafone and ask you to open the included file attachment as part of a message sent by an unspecified party. Because these e-mail messages include links to real Vodafone sites, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers warn that Win32:Karagany-MX messages may make Win32:Karagany-MX past some spam filters. The 'From' field also is forged to appear as though Vodafone is involved in the message.

Installing Win32:Karagany-MX (or Trojan.Generic.KDV.780689) also will result in your PC's exposure to a second Trojan, Win32:Citadel-K/Trojan.Gamarue.E. Win32:Karagany-MX's functions appear to be limited to enabling Win32:Citadel-K, which opens a backdoor vulnerability on the infected computer.

Curiously, SpywareRemove.com malware research team notes that this attack appears to be incomplete - although Win32:Citadel-K opens a network port and listens for further information, Win32:Citadel-K doesn't transmit identifiable information to a C&C server that would allow any criminal hackers to engage in attacks against your PC. This has led to the supposition that current Win32:Karagany-MX attacks are a dry test or unintentional launch of a future series of attacks that may include a fully functional attack strategy on the part of Win32:Citadel-K.

How to Hang Up on a Win32:Karagany-MX Installer

SpywareRemove.com malware researchers can recommend several methods of protecting your PC from Win32:Karagany-MX and Win32:Citadel-K. First and foremost, scanning suspicious file attachments should allow your anti-malware programs to identify Win32:Karagany-MX and similar PC threats that often use e-mail to distribute themselves. Secondarily, setting your OS to reveal concealed file extensions will let you identify Win32:Karagany-MX's installer as its real format – not a supposed JPG image.

Because Win32:Karagany-MX uses components that are named to imitate Windows files and can include other defensive mechanisms, SpywareRemove.com malware experts suggest using dedicated anti-malware programs to remove a Win32:Karagany-MX infection. A complete scan also should be able to remove Win32:Karagany-MX 's cohort, Win32:Citadel-K. However, since both Win32:Karagany-MX and Win32:Citadel-K are newly identified, you should be certain that your anti-malware products also are updated before you scan your computer.

Technical Details

File System Modifications

Tutorials: If you wish to learn how to remove malware components manually, you can read the tutorials on how to find malware, kill unwanted processes, remove malicious DLLs and delete other harmful files. Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.

The following files were created in the system:

%Users%\All Users\svchost.exe

File name: %Users%\All Users\svchost.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

Vodafone_MMS.jpg.exe

File name: Vodafone_MMS.jpg.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\..{RunKeys}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SunJavaUpdateSched"