Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Malware authors often attempt to hide their work by giving them the same name as system process. The difference comes down to location.
I am just about fed up with Windows Vista running so much stuff in the background that I don't understand. I've become obsessed with checking out what processes are running and then Googling them. The problem is most sites then tell me it's a legit MS program - often described as being important for stability - then in the next paragraph they say that the same exe file is a registered Trojan or virus.
The latest was 'csrss.exe' (two at the same time). When I looked it up it was explained it should be in the system 32 folder, but I have one in there and another somewhere else that I can't find - task manager will not show the file location for either!
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I can certainly sympathize with Windows Vista's complexity. This isn't a simple operating system any more, and it's not something that can be "pared down" to just a couple of running programs. Vista will always have lots of processes running. It's not a good thing, it's not a bad thing, it's just a thing ... a reflection of a large and complex operating system that's trying to do a lot.
But the point you raise is a good one. Virus writers often try to obfuscate what they're about by naming their virus files the same as system executables. As you've seen, csrss.exe in one place is critical to system operation, and yet csrss.exe run from some other place is most likely a virus.
How do you know which is which?
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First and foremost, for most people, the correct answer is that you should never need to know. This is something that your anti-virus and anti-spyware software should be taking care of for you. Good anti-malware software will either eliminate the "bad versions" of malware trying to masquerade as something else, or at a minimum warn you. The key is twofold:
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Make sure that both the anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are up to date
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Make sure that both the anti-virus and anti-spyware databases are up to date - most will update automatically, so you need to make sure that this is happening, and happening daily.
Now, for the rest of us who want to know what the heck is going on...
As you point out, Task Manager will show you that multiple copies of something called "csrss.exe" may be running, but it won't tell you where they reside.
Enter Process Explorer. This is a free download I've often referred to as "Task Manager on steroids". I never use Task Manager anymore, just procexp.
After running process explorer, simply hovering the mouse over the item we care about gives us that key bit of information:
Here you can see that on my machine csrss.exe is running from c:\windows\system32 - exactly where it should be.
There's more information available, though. Right click on the item, and click on Properties to get this:
The properties dialog contains a whole host of information about any running process. In this "Image" tab you can see not only the location of the executable being run, but also any command line parameters that might have been passed, its current working directory and more. The other tabs show even more information.
Of particular note, are processes that provide Windows Services. If I right click on one of the instances of "svchost.exe", click on Properties and then the Services tab, I get this:
As I've discussed in other articles, svchost is the "Service Host" executable - it acts as a "host" within which other services can run. You'll often find multiple copies of it running on your machine, and each one may be host to one or more Windows system services. Here you can see that this particular copy of svchost is running many services on my machine.
Since there are already multiple copies of svchost.exe running, it's a common target for malware authors to "slip in another one" that might run from a different location in the hopes that you won't notice. If you suspect a problem, svchost.exe is just like csrss.exe - it should be running from c:\windows\system32 and nowhere else.
Article C3476 - August 20, 2008
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
Leo,
Excellent article. I've been looking for a good replacement for Task Manager. Thank you very much!
Posted by: Mike at August 26, 2008 8:07 AMA good article Leo.
Another good program to look at is Autoruns, it shows ALL running processes, you have the option of terminating temporarily or permanently.
Try it,it's FREE.
Different (and very good) tool, but for a different purpose.
-Leo
What is the defference between whats running and process explorer programs looks like about the same
Posted by: Robert at August 27, 2008 10:32 AMThank you very much finally an explanation about svchost.exe I can understand and a great tip on process explorer.
Posted by: Ruby at August 16, 2009 9:26 PMHi Leo, great site. Here's a question I CANT find an answer to anywhere:
In windows, and specifically in Vista, could malware run through the taxi svchost.exe, INSIDE the system32 folder?
For instance, is it not possible that executed malware, in the form of injected code, could edit say a trojan to run from your system32 folder under the system taxi svchost.exe? Or better yet, list itself there as a regular service like: Dhcp, DHCP Client? HOW do i check where DHCP client is?
And if svchost.exe connects to the net, with an illegitimate service running from the system32 folder, what then? how do you check each instance of svchost.exe's connection, with only knowing it is svchost.exe connecting from the system32 folder? If you cannot, this would be a great taxi for more then windows services.
As much as i search, i find no answer to this question, and only hints that it is possible. Hopefully you can shed some light on the situation, thanks!
Chris
07-Sep-2009