NortonSecurity.exe creates Virus-File during QuickScan
Posted: 20-Jan-2022 | 1:32AM · 29 Replies · Permalink
We are using Norton Internet Security (NIS) since more than 10 years now.
But what its doing now is really strange and customer service is not doing anything,
here are the details:
Since December 2021 we see the following Behaviour on all our by NIS protected Computers:
- (only) during quickscan a Virus-File is detected and deleted
- this virus file can be in few different folders of different custom apps (usually quickscan does not scan this partition, only full scan does)
- this virus file is named like 0001234.tmp (number changes every time) and has a size of 4712byte (always)
- this virus file is not a .tmp file of the custom app (sure), it seems to be an .exe file (content starts with "MZ....") of other origin
- this virus file contains a very strange text part at its end which is:
"DUMPTHIN SPCK!it is a [(?riddle?) wrapped in a {mystery}] inside an enigma"
The Part "it is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" is how famous Winston Churchill defined Russia in 1939
(When I read this it seemed clear that this file was a threat and not a regular computer file)
A check of the file with other Virus tools proved that too.
Why would I think NortonSecurity.exe creates this File ?
- only Computer protected by NIS are affected
- we saw early that the File nevery really exists, at not time it is or was there (sure)
it only pops up when a quickscan is started and is removed by that at the same time.
- we also had monitoring software running which shows exactly what was suspected (see screenshot):
> NortonSecurity.exe first looks if a file by that name already exists (?)
> then creates it (!)
> then writes its content of 4712bytes (!)
> ...?
> then deletes it (!)
> then checks if the file is really gone (???)
(all this happens within about 0.01seconds)
What is extra strange about it ?
- not by NIS protected Computers are not affected
- it was not that easy (like it usually always was) to restore the file (like when its not a virus),
i could click on it and it was confirmed but the file was not there ! It was not restored.
- uploading the file to Norton Support via website ended unanswered (1 Month)
- transimitting the file to Norton Support via App itself 10times ("send file to norton") ended unanswered (file not received)
(they never informed me that the file was not received - this just came up during later conversation)
- then they wanted the file by email (which is impossible even I know that you can't send a virus by email) so I suggested to have it password protected and zipped (to avoid scanning / removing on the way) which got through (confirmed) but still no answer about it
- Norton Customer Support is acting really strange they ask more questions (like "how do you know that ?") then they answer
but of course they are assuring me that the file can never be created by Norton and that I have to "trust them".
An actual proof of that was not given. About my proof they don't really care.
They only say, "please wait for answer" which I do since 1 Month now.
- When Norton Customer Support is out of answers they sometimes say that the "file might not be a threat" but thats out of the questions when you see that it comes up again and again and nobody knows why.
- my norton community access of that account is somehow blocked all the time (could just be coincidence of course) so I use a different account.
About the file or content I could find few Infos in the Internet.
Virustotal said its from early December 2021 but some users wrote about it in 2013 already.
So I really don't know what I should think about this situation.
Any Help is Appreciated
Re: NortonSecurity.exe creates Virus-File during QuickScan
Posted: 24-Jan-2022 | 2:13AM · Permalink
Hello @Nicommander,
Our product team has completed the analysis.
These temporary files are created by the product in some scenarios when suspicious sections of memory are encountered. This specific file was reviewed and confirmed to not contain anything malicious.
These files are created in the same directory as the app where the memory was detected in some scenarios to maintain that association. Creation and removal is handled automatically by the product during the scan so there's no need to manually remove these files.
While these temporary files look like executables from their headers these are not executable or able to adversely affect the system in this form. Detections attributed directly to these files are not intended and while this instance has been fixed, we're working to make sure they don't happen in any further scenarios.