Script for remote DoublePulsar backdoor removal available

NSA’s DoublePulsar backdoor can now be remotely uninstalled from any infected Windows machine, thanks to the updated detection script provided by security firm Countercept.

“The SMB version [of the script] also supports the remote uninstall of the implant for remediation, which was helped by knowledge of the opcode mechanism reversed by @zerosum0x0,” the company explained.

It’s good to note, though, that using it to “clean” machines you don’t own is not advised, as it’s technically against the law in most countries to tamper with other people’s computers. Still, it can come in hand to administrators that are tasked with checking and securing a considerable number of systems.

Also, it’s good to remember that removing the backdoor is as easy as restarting the infected machine, although that won’t prevent it from being infected again in the same way as before. Installing the patch provided by Microsoft in March will help.

Microsoft’s reaction

According to Ars Technica, Microsoft is still not convinced that the number of machines implanted with DoublePulsar is as big as it has been reported – i.e. in the tens of thousands.

And that number seems to keep rising, as script kiddies and more knowledgeable cyber criminals are taking advantage of the NSA attacks tools and exploits leaked by the Shadow Brokers, and the “tutorials, taken from security researchers, on how to utilize the exploits and the Equation Groups‘s self-developed framework, called Fuzzbunch.”

EternalBlue, the exploit used to deliver DoublePulsar, is capable of penetrating machines running unpatched Windows XP through 2008 R2 by exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows SMB Server.

“Customers with up-to-date software are protected from this malware, which requires an already-compromised machine to run,” Microsoft stated. “We encourage customers to practice good computing habits online, including exercising caution when clicking on links to web pages, opening unknown files, or accepting file transfers.”