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Published Oct 09, 2009 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Worm:Win32/Autorun.TA

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: Win32/Autorun.worm.102400.C (AhnLab) W32/Worm.ANCA (Command) Worm.AutoRun.VHZ (BitDefender) Win32/AutoRun.VB.DL (ESET) Worm.Win32.AutoRun.ajgm (Kaspersky) W32/Autorun.worm.aaj (McAfee) W32/Autorun.IZS (Panda) W32.SillyFDC (Symantec) Worm.AutoRun.SDL (VirusBuster)

Summary

Worm:Win32/Autorun.TA is a worm that spreads to available drives and may execute automatically when accessed from a computer that supports the Autorun feature. The worm blocks access to certain security-related websites by modifying the local hosts file.
Manual removal is not recommended for this threat. To detect and remove this threat and other malicious software that may have been installed, run a full-system scan with an up-to-date antivirus product such as the Microsoft Safety Scanner (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=212742). For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/vista.mspx.
 
To recreate a clean HOSTS file:
  1. Click Start, and click Run.
  2. Open the Hosts file, according to operating system:

    On Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME systems:
    In the Open field, type: notepad %windir%\hosts

    On Windows NT-based operating systems, such as Windows 2000 or Windows XP:
    In the Open field, type: notepad<system folder>\drivers\etc\hosts
    -- for example, on Windows 2000:
    In the Open field, type: notepad C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
    -- or on Windows XP:
    In the Open field, type: notepad C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

    On Windows Vista:
    Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Notepad, and then click Run as administrator
    Click File, click Open, type: %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts, and then click Open
  3. On the first line of the HOSTS file, type: 127.0.0.1 localhost as in the following example after modifying a default 'hosts' file:


  4. Save the file to the same location you opened it from.
  5. Close Notepad.
 
Recovering from recurring infections on a network
The following additional steps may need to be taken to completely remove this threat from an infected network, and to stop infections from recurring from this and other similar types of network-spreading malware:
 
  1. Ensure that an antivirus product is installed on ALL machines connected to the network that can access or host shares  (see above for further detail).
  2. Ensure that all available network shares are scanned with an up-to-date antivirus product.
  3. Restrict permissions as appropriate for network shares on your network. For more information on simple access control, please see: http://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb456977.aspx.
  4. Remove any unnecessary network shares or mapped drives.
 
Note: Additionally it may be necessary to temporarily change the permission on network shares to read-only until the disinfection process is complete.
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