VLC.exe

VLC

Download Assistant

This is part of the Air Installer, a download manager which bundles applications with offers for additional 3rd party software, mostly unwanted adware, and may be installed with minimal consent. The application VLC.exe by Download Assistant has been detected as adware by 1 anti-malware scanner with very strong indications that the file is a potential threat. The program is a setup application that uses the AirInstaller Download Manager installer. The installer is marketed through download protals and search ads as the VideoLAN VLC media player but will also install additional software offers which include adware, PUPs and browser toolbars.
Publisher:
Download Assistant  (signed and verified)

Product:
VLC

Version:
3.0.0.89

MD5:
4773f27bb052716b6189e28b69566992

SHA-1:
3dc445c0e4117f296b6ce6c1c1650697d48e564b

SHA-256:
b53ed3942cbe11030ce6b17d316215491d28d230fc1a5e41ba78fcf34e75f646

Scanner detections:
1 / 68

Status:
Adware

Note:
Our current pool of anti-malware engines have not currently detected this file, however based on our own detection heuristics we feel that this file is unwanted.

Description:
This 'download manager' is also considered bundleware, a utility designed to download software (possibly legitimate or opensource) and bundle it with a number of optional offers including ad-supported utilities, toolbars, shopping comparison tools and browser extensions.

Analysis date:
11/5/2024 6:59:46 AM UTC  (today)

Scan engine
Detection
Engine version

Reason Heuristics
PUP.Air Software (M)
16.7.23.2

File size:
956.7 KB (979,624 bytes)

Product version:
3.0.0.89

Copyright:
(c) Download Assistant

Original file name:
VLC.exe

File type:
Executable application (Win32 EXE)

Bundler/Installer:
AirInstaller Download Manager

Language:
English (United States)

Common path:
C:\users\{user}\downloads\vlc.exe

Digital Signature
Authority:
Symantec Corporation

Valid from:
2/16/2015 12:00:00 AM

Valid to:
2/16/2016 11:59:59 PM

Subject:
CN=Download Assistant, O=Download Assistant, L=Victoria, S=British Columbia, C=CA

Issuer:
CN=Symantec Class 3 SHA256 Code Signing CA, OU=Symantec Trust Network, O=Symantec Corporation, C=US

Serial number:
3784E4CAC60231ED82FD7E8E845E8CE3

File PE Metadata
Compilation timestamp:
4/3/2015 11:47:50 PM

OS version:
5.1

OS bitness:
Win32

Subsystem:
Windows GUI

Linker version:
10.0

CTPH (ssdeep):
12288:JNQtelX96m0ZPk0l2xuz46OIOz34Pt/jfLImKWmrwh9MiWoiSkB1qAsBhJzblG01:JNAepcB46ezebqoRe1qAs/hl5FFgUd

Entry address:
0x126A

Entry point:
55, 8B, EC, 83, EC, 10, 53, 56, 57, 6A, 00, FF, 15, 08, 10, 49, 00, 8B, F8, 33, D2, 8B, CF, 8B, 5F, 3C, 03, DF, 2B, 05, 1C, 10, 40, 00, 89, 45, F4, 1B, D2, F7, D8, 89, 55, F8, 0F, B7, 73, 14, 83, D2, 00, F7, DA, 89, 75, F0, 52, 8B, 93, A0, 00, 00, 00, 50, 8B, 44, 1E, 24, 03, 05, 28, 10, 40, 00, 50, FF, B3, A4, 00, 00, 00, E8, 88, FD, FF, FF, 8B, 54, 1E, 28, 83, C4, 10, A1, 28, 10, 40, 00, 2B, D0, 83, FA, 01, 76, 0D, 8B, 4C, 1E, 24, 03, C8, 03, CF, E8, F2, FE, FF, FF, A1, 20, 10, 40, 00, 83, C6, 40, 03, F3...
 
[+]

Entropy:
7.0403

Developed / compiled with:
Microsoft Visual C++

Code size:
574.5 KB (588,288 bytes)

The file VLC.exe has been seen being distributed by the following URL.

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