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Published Apr 17, 2008 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Worm:Win32/Bobax.O

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: Worm:Win32/Bobax.O@mm!CME419 (other) Dropper/Bobax (AhnLab) W32/Netsky.w@MM (Command) Win32.Netsky.W@mm (BitDefender) Win32/Bobax (CA) Win32/Bobax.Z (ESET) Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.x (Kaspersky) W32/Bobax.worm.gen (McAfee) W32/Bobax.gen1 (Norman) W32/Bobax-S (Sophos) W32.Bobax!dr (Symantec) PE_BOBAX.AH (Trend Micro) I-Worm.Netsky.O (VirusBuster) W32/BOBAX!ITW#16 (Wild List ORG)

Summary

Win32/Bobax.O is a mass-mailing network worm that targets computers running certain versions Microsoft Windows. The worm targets computers running Windows 2000 by exploiting the Windows Plug-and-Play buffer overflow vulnerability that is fixed with Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039. The worm can also send a copy of itself as an e-mail attachment to e-mail addresses that it gathers from the infected computer.
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 Microsoft Security Essentials, or the Microsoft Safety Scanner. For more information about using antivirus software, see http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/av.aspx.
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 computers 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.
Additional remediation instructions for Worm:Win32/Bobax.O
This threat may make lasting changes to a computer’s configuration that are NOT restored by detecting and removing this threat. For more information on returning an infected computer to its pre-infected state, please see the following article/s: 
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