Last week, Microsoft released a version of the Malicious Software Removal tool (MSRT) that can help remove variants of Win32/Conficker and other resources.

Win32/Conficker.B exploits a vulnerability in the Windows Server service (SVCHOST.EXE) for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2008. While Microsoft addressed this issue in October with Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067, and Forefront antivirus and OneCare (as well as other vendor’s anit-virus products) helped protect against infections, many systems that have not been patched manually through Server Update Services and Microsoft/Windows Update or through Automatic Updates have recently come under attack by this worm.  Attacked systems may lock out users, disable our update services and block access to security-related Web sites:

In response to this threat, Microsoft has:

  • Updated the January version of the MSFT to detect and remove variants of Win32/Conficker.B.  You can download this version from the MSRT from either the Microsoft Update site  or through its associated Knowledge Base article.
  • Created the KB article 962007 “Virus alert about the Win32/Conficker.B worm” to provide public details on the symptoms and removal methods available to address this issue.
  • Announced the release of the items and the virus threat itself on the Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog.

It is our hope that these resources can assist you in resolving issues with unpatched, infected systems and that you can apply MS08-067 to any other unpatched systems as soon as possible to avoid this threat.