META: Symantec Endpoint Protection Marking MGO as a Blackhole Toolkit Website

Submitted by Mgobowl on

The title says it all. Over the past couple of weeks I have been getting this warning while visiting MGoBlog:

[SID 24092] Web Attack Blackhole ToolKit Website detected.

I am running XP SP3 and using the most recent version of Firefox as my browser. I thought maybe the issue was on my end, but running scans with my Symantec Endpoint Protection and Malwarebytes has yielded nothing.

The warning pops up when I have multiple tabs open including MGoBlog. However, if I open the browser and visit MGoBlog as the first website it still pops up leading me to believe it is a problem with the site.

I have also been able to make the warning pop up by reloading the site multiple times. The ads are also different every time the warning pops up, so I don't think it's a problem with a specific ad. I've already emailed Brian, but I thought I'd ask the crowd if they are also noticing something similar. Hopefully this is not a precursor to another Malware mess.

wolverhorn

June 11th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^

I know a few others have had weird messages pop up but I haven't seen anything unusual yet on my machine (Windows 7).  Hopefully that's not a bad sign for me.

turtleboy

June 11th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^

I haven't had any problems with MGoBlog other than a recent gneral lack in posbanging and seeing too much of TSIO. Their tears are delicious, but their faces are revolting.

Raoul

June 11th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^

Several times over the last week or so, Norton has blocked a Blackhole Toolkit Website 5 attack when I've accessed MGoBlog as one of multiple tabs. I have the same setup as you--XP SP3 and the latest version of Firefox--but I just upgraded Firefox a couple of days ago, so it happened using the previous version as well.

CoachW

June 11th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^

Kaspersky and Malwarebytes have both been blocking things and have identified it as coming from this site.  If you're not getting any notifications from your AV, I hope that just means you're lucky.  I'd check it out though.

umfan323

June 11th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^

I get the pop up but Malware says it has blocked a potentially dangerous site so I dont worry bout it

m1817

June 11th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^

I am running XP SP3, IE 8, amd Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0.4014.26 w/ updated through 6/10/11.  I experienced the same warning this afternoon.  It's probably a false warning from SEP.

Sac Fly

June 11th, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^

It's super powerful, very sneaky, and everytime a patch comes out they update it. Ive been watching my metasploit console and my Iptables logs all day and can't see anything. Can you screenshot your warning messages or anything else that could help me and the other computer guys figure out what's going on?

Sac Fly

June 11th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^

Ok from what I can tell, someone is running a tcp/ip port scanner. Ports in that numerical area are dynamic and they are supposed to be private. What is going on is that the program is trying to get into your system from the port and install rouge inti-virus. Be careful, it might be exploiting weak security from internet explorer, if that's what your using.

CoachW

June 11th, 2011 at 9:36 PM ^

I'm using Firefox and it's up to date.  Thanks for the input.  The next one that came up used a different port number so I'm guessing the program is just choosing at random within certain number values.

Mgobowl

June 11th, 2011 at 8:53 PM ^

I would screenshot it if I had anything to screenshot. I get a little yellow call out bubble from SEP (my AV) in my toolbar. All the bubble says is: [SID 24092] Web Attack Blackhole ToolKit Website detected.

Checking my Risk Logs in SEP, it shows some tracking cookies that originated from MGoBlog (labeled as: [email protected] and [email protected]) and were deleted as well as a downloader that was deleted. The downloader was in a java file: c:\Documents and Settings\name_redacted\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\

Sac Fly

June 11th, 2011 at 9:30 PM ^

Did you just find the problem ive been looking for all day? Alright, blackhole exploit can be used to modify website scripts, which made it so hard for me to find. Last time blackhole injected it's own script into the website, this time what I think has happened is that it modified quantserve. Quantserve is a java based application that monitors website traffic, so the first thing you need to do is stop refreshing the page. The installer will will not install until the page is refreshed so it can bypass security easier. Next you need to download firefox and get the noscript toolbar, use it to block quantserve.

Mgobowl

June 12th, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^

I always run Firefox, but had only been running Noscript on my Admin profile. The profile I usually use does not have admin privileges to help prevent unwanted junk from automatically installing itself. The only thing I dislike about Noscript is that you have to approve a number of things on every webpage you go to and for me that gets old quick. I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it though.

champswest

June 11th, 2011 at 9:25 PM ^

I haven't noticed any warnings or pop ups, but about a week ago this site started appearing in larger font size (and still is).  I asked Brian if he had made this change or if it was on my end and he indicated that it must be on my end.  However, this is the only site that appears on my PC in larger than normal font.

All of my Norton and Malwarebytes scans say that my computer is working fine and fully protected.

derpDerpDerp

June 12th, 2011 at 12:56 AM ^

This isn't the first, second or third or fourth time this site has served up malware. Most have been handled quietly behind the scenes, but there was the great malware outbreak of 2010 or whenever it was.

IPFW_Wolverines

June 12th, 2011 at 2:02 AM ^

I just got the same thing from my Norton Antivirus. I use Windows 7 so it isn't only XP.

phork

June 12th, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^

If you are running Windows and atleast IE7, you are screwed, admin or not.  Why anyone runs IE anymore at this point is mind boggling to me.