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Published Nov 09, 2004 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Worm:Win32/Msblast.I

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: WORM_MSBLAST.I (Trend Micro) W32/Blaster.worm.k (McAfee) W32.Blaster.T.Worm (Symantec) W32/Blaster-G (Sophos) Win32.Poza.L (CA) Worm.Win32.Blaster.66048 (Global Hauri) Blaster.H (Panda)

Summary

Win32/Msblast.I is a network worm that can spread to a computer running Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP that does not have Security Update MS03-026 or MS03-039 installed. The worm attempts to spread using TCP port 135, UDP port 69, or TCP port 4444. The worm also drops a component that opens a backdoor.
To manually recover from infection by Win32/MSBlast.I, perform the following steps:
  1. Disconnect from the Internet
  2. End the worm process
  3. Delete the worm files from your computer
  4. Delete the worm registry entry
  5. Take steps to prevent re-infection

Disconnect from the Internet

To ensure that your computer is not actively infecting other computers, you should disconnect it from the Internet before proceeding.

End the worm process

Next you should end the worm process. This helps to stop your computer from infecting other computers. It also resolves the crashing, reboot, and performance degradation issues caused by the worm.
To end the worm process
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click the Processes tab.
  3. On the Processes tab, click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  4. Select the process eschlp.exe, and click End Process.
  5. Select the process svchosthlp.exe, and click End Process.
This ends the worm processes and stops the worm from running on your computer.

Delete the worm files from your computer

Once you have stopped the worm from running, you should delete the worm code from your computer.
To delete the worm files from your computer
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open field, type %windir%\system32
  3. Press Enter.
  4. Click the Name column to sort files by name.
  5. Find the files eschlp.exe, svchosthlp.exe and delete them.
This removes the worm code from your computer. If deleting fails, use the following steps to verify that eschlp.exe or svchosthlp.exe is not running:
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click the Processes tab.
  3. Confirm that eschlp.exe or svchosthlp.exe is not in the list.

Delete the worm registry entry

Win32/Msblast.I creates an entry in the Windows registry that attempts to run the worm every time your computer restarts. This entry should be deleted.
To delete the worm registry entry
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open field, type regedit
  3. Press Enter.
  4. Navigate to the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  5. Right-click the value MSUpdate = "%System%\svchosthlp.exe" and click Delete.
  6. Click Yes.
  7. Right-click the value SPUpdate = "%System%\svchosthlp.exe" and click Delete.
  8. Click Yes.
  9. Right-click the value Helper = "%System%\eschlp.exe" and click Delete.
  10. Click Yes.
  11. Exit the registry.

Take steps to prevent re-infection

You should not reconnect your computer to the Internet until the computer is protected from re-infection.
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