Why hasn't LimeWire pulled their program until they fix the Trojan problem ???
 

I don't understand the people at LimeWire. Many people in these forums and others have told them about the Backdoor trojan in their 2.02 version, yet it's still available for more people to download. Why ??? And they won't even respond to are questions and concerns about this. Nice support !! I have lost all faith in LimeWire and I am moving on to another Gnutella client.

Don't let the door hit you as you leave.

Hmmm...lovely support from the moderator !!!

Mark Gorton is the CEO of limewire. Drop him a line at Mark.Gorton@limewire.com and I'm sure he'll get right on it.

:)

Nice attitude.

This company better get this fixed. I am shocked that they would knowingly do this and then be not concerned about customer complaints. Are you trying to ruin your business? See ya in the dot com graveyard.

Download.com rating dropping like a stone.
 

Limewire must be aware of this trojan. It took me two days to track down what had happened to my system (windows XP).

It wasnt until I did a roll back I realised that it was Limewire 2.02 that had installed a few extra 'features'. One was 'backdoor.trojan' that run from a file called 'explorer.exe' that sits in a new explorer folder. The other was a program called bargain.exe. Not sure if it'd always been there but this thing appeared to be adding pop up adverts in to IE.

DO NOT INSTALL LIMEWIRE. IF YOU HAVE THEN ON XP ROLL BACK TO BEFORE IT WAS INSTALLED.

Stew 'very ****ed off' Dean

Nice attitude, Moderator! The unregistered first post may have had a bitter undertone but he or she made a perfectly valid point. I have been using LimeWire since something like v1.2 or maybe 1.3, and I have always been so happy with it that I did not hesitate to send in my $6. But if LimeWire doesn't address BOTH the connection issues and the trojan problem (which didn't come up for me but seems very serious nonetheless) within the next few days, I am switching to Bearshare. Not out of bitterness, but because I would like to have a client on my machine that actually works as advertised.

Nice response.. I didn't know sarcastic @$$hole was a requirement for moderators.. Maybe I should apply.

The newest version of bearshare had the same problem, so I wouldn't bother switching to it. Try this out though:

http://www.geocities.com/xolox113us/

Xolox.. Not developed anymore, and it has a few weird bugs, but works better than any of the others I have tried.

As far as I can tell the Trojan will begin installing things like Bargain Buddy on you once it is up and running on your system. Bargain Buddy never showed up when my virus scanner stopped the trojan from being installed, but when it was disabled - that and another one called adp.exe were thrown into the Run key in the registry.

It would be nice if someone would pull this stuff offline so that people can stop becoming infected, though.

I always knew the advertising and virus communities would come together, they're both dirty *******s - these days...

After this LimeWire problem, I started using Gnucleus at www.gnucleus.com and I'm loving it. Great program and no spyware !!!

Interesting thread at: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...e=flat;start=0

There are many, many people who come in here and complain when they can't get the help they want <b>immediately</b>. No one appreciates it when you put people down for what they do in their SPARE TIME, and frankly, I'm not going to take it. No one needs to take it. If one more rude person leaves, the better for all of us. I'm sorry if this offends you. If you want to think me rude, go ahead.

Well, here we are:

http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/da...er.trojan.html

Symantec specifically list Grokster and Limewire (although the spelled Limeware).

do in their spare time? if theres adware/spyware being installed this is not spare time. this is FOR MONEY. do you think they would add this in the program for free? no, they dont care about peoples privacy, they care about money. **** this spare time bull**** they are doing it for $$$.

This software was part of clicktilluwin, which we bundled with LimeWire. Apparently Norton Antivirus started to consider it a "virus" on December 27th. I wouldn't call it a true virus since it doesn't propogate itself or inflict damage. But it is damn annoying and we would have never knowingly included it. We apologize that we couldn't respond faster.

We have created a new installer for Windows that does not included clicktilluwin. Please try it out at www.limewire.com/beta/2.0.3/win/LimeWireWin.exe and let us know if it solves the problem. If everything checks out ok, we will put it in the public upload area.

Thanks to those who have helped us track down the problem.

Unregistered: TruStarWarrior is referring to himself and the other gnutellaforums volunteers who spend countless hours answering users' questions. They get paid nothing, and we at LimeWire thank them for their help.

I am an moderator. I do this job in my spare time. I am not paid by LimeWire. Afisk, crohrs, and the others are part of the LimeWire development team, and are therefore paid.

:-)

Does this new version include any other undisclosed Spyware ??? Why do you have the option to not install some Spyware (such at Gator), but install others (such as Cydoor, or others) without giving the user the option or at letting the user know ???

What's the deal with TruStarWarrior attitude ? We are not talking about a quick fix for a simple bug, we are talking about why a trojan is installed on our computer, why Spyware is installed without our knowledge, and why this program is still allowed to be downloaded to infect more people. This demands immediate attention, despite your excuses !!! This kind of problem with LimeWire and this kind of attitude from the staff has made LimeWire look very bad !!!

So you don't consider a program that installs without the user knowledge and reports his/her information a trojan ?? A program that installs itself using the name "Exporer.exe", to trick the user into thinking it's a part of Windows ? Come on !!! This also seems to prove that this was no accident, that you knew what this trojan does.

Symantec's definition of a Trojan horse:

http://securityresponse.symantec.com...fa.html#trojan

"Type: Trojan Horse
A program that neither replicates or copies itself, but does damage or compromises the security of the computer. Typically it relies on someone emailing it to you, it does not email itself, it may arrive in the form of a joke program or software of some sort."

I think that describes what you included in your software !!!

Re: Why hasn't LimeWire pulled their program until they fix the Trojan problem ???
 

My problem is you. Now before you refuel your flamethrower, let me explain.

You come here to rant and criticize the moderators, and then say that you're leaving. Not very constructive. Not helpful. Invitation for a flame war.

But I see that you have a good point to make. I could have gone about voicing my own opinion in a less offensive manner, and you could have too. But the fact is- we both didn't.

I haven't been very diplomatic, and so I apologize for all the feathers I've ruffled. Next time you need help, please state your problem without attacking all the moderators. You'll get a more positive response from people like me.

Sincerely,

I apologize for what you perceived as personally criticizing you or the other moderators. I was very disappointed to find out that a trojan was installed on my system from your product...plus spyware without my knowledge. I was disappointed that several people posted this problem to the forums, but we never got a response back. I was disappointed that the software was and still is available for download to infect more people. For the first time, it made me worry to use or download any new version of LimeWire.

2.0.3 beta...Ok...well...
 

clicktilluwin is gone...

But there's still C:\Program Files\adp\bin\adp.exe which is installed, runs and contacts http://adp.ikena.com/update.asp?part...&type=software. It downloads the Bargain Buddy installation program, which fires off it's own permanent process of course, to track web site patterns and who knows what.

There's no hope.

This is no different than the dlder.exe/explorer.exe trojan. adp.exe is the downloader for http://adp.ikena.com:80/file/bbi7378.exe, the Bargain Buddy installation program. c:\program files\bargain buddy\bin\bargains.exe is the trojan that stays in memory.

Zildy

I've been trying to get myself a "clean" LW .
I discovered so much junk in it that it now fits on a 1.44M disk .
With room to spare !

Now that makes you think doesn't it ? :eek:

I'm going to do an FFR to get all their junk of my system and use the "cleaned" one .

AMEN!
 

Amen, buddy. you tell it like it is. you testify bout yo blood sweat an tears! don't even pay any attention to those belly-achin, fair-weather unregistereds. i mean they ain't got no time for the helpin of others --only bitchin and complainin. i want to personally thank you, truestar warrior, for your time and patience with my posts and for all the others who were too self-absorbed to thank you. ;) don't let those turkeys get you down. its not worth it, they're not worth it. (haven't they made that obvious?) and to <B>them</B> i say: flame-on at my expense now,clowns. the rest of us will be productive!!:eek:

oh, and, uh, <B>HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!</B>

Thanks mlledes!
Happy New Year!

Greetings,

A BEARSHARE beta was also infected with this virus. After being warned by their users in their forums, it seems the developers acted appropriately and removed it so it could no longer infect more people. Why is the infected LimeWire version 2.02 still available to unsuspecting users ? At least one developer at LimeWire has acknowleged they are aware of the problem...but it's still available. Doesn't make sense to me.

Zildy: are you <i>absolutely</i> sure adp wasn't on your computer before installing LimeWire. And did you opt out of Gator and Toptext?

Every time for sure...
 

I get adp installed every time I install. I always opt out on Gator and iText. I know for a fact that it wasn't there before LimeWire put it there.

I do not only get adp.exe coming from nowhere , i get another one too :

mdm.exe

I'm sure it was not there before I installed LW .

I have to agree with the sentiment expressed by a few other posters, and reiterate the question: why is 2.0.2 still available for download?

I just came back from the download.com website after having read the user comments. Boy oh boy, is Limewire ever taking a beating over there, with everybody recommending VERY strongly against installation. I too was somewhat ****ed off at having to clean out my system infection after installing this thing.

I note that there've been some defensive statements made by developers, moderators, and just plain Limewire lovers, and that's all fine and good. But in this game, perception is everything. Someone said that this trojan isn't "really" a trojan, but how far and wide is this opinion going to be spread, compared to the much-more prevalent view that it IS a trojan? Symantec thinks it is, and for 99% of your prospective users, that's all that counts. People hear the word "trojan" and they freak out, and they're NOT going to go searching the internet trying to determine if it's true or not. Norton Anti-Virus says "warning: trojan!" and that's as far as they're gonna go.

The longer this thing stays available for download, and the longer Limewire goes without making a full apology right on the front page of their website, the more damage is done to Limewire's reputation. That's a simple fact, and all the arguing we want to do about what is and what is not a trojan won't change that fact.

So the Limewire people have a choice. CORRECT this problem right away, or watch their market share plummet like a brick.

Joey Lindstrom
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Anyone ready for an alternative?

Here's a beta site:
Clean LimeWire

Thank you TruStarWarrior - I came back here to report that the link given for beta 2.0.3 doesn't work. Well, the link works, but the web-server is brain-dead. The download aborts at some random point through the download, but reports SUCCESSFUL download to both Netscape and IE. When you try to install, you get a 1628 error. I'm willing to bet that's the cause of a LOT of the installation problems people are having (because, as I said, the download SEEMS to have finished successfully).

clicktilluwin is now gone
 

I replaced the Windows version of 2.0.2 with 2.0.3, which has no clicktilluwin.exe.

Again, we apologize for this whole fiasco. When we built the 2.0.2 installer, we had no idea that clicktilluwin was so pernicious. The fact that Norton changed their classification of clicktilluwin two weeks after the 2.0.3 release made things more confusing. Not to mention that all of this happened on a holiday weekend when most of the LimeWire staff was out of town.

We don't like having to bundle software either, but it helps pay the bills. I don't have the number handy, but I think that banner ads alone only barely cover the bandwidth cost to distribute LimeWire, never mind salaries. This is why we encourage people to pay the $6 for the PRO version.

Again, thanks to everyone who helped us track this down.

Geocities is not allowing any more downloading. Bandwidth is already maxed out. But I said it would only be available for a little while. :-) Possibly, you can try back later.

If someone would like to host and/or be a mirror, please let me know!

Re: clicktilluwin is now gone
 

The developer at LimeWire still refuses to answer some valid valid questions posted on this forum. Why has he/she refused to answer ??? What is he/she hiding ???

Again, why is there STILL spyware being installed on the new version of LimeWire without the user's knowledge ? It's one thing to bundle spyware, it's another to bundle it and make the user think he/she is opting out of all of the spyware.

Why is there options to prevent the install of some spyware, but others are still installed ? Is this to trick the user into thinking he/she has prevented all of the spyware from installing ? I don't understand, Crohrs...can you please explain these valid questions ???

Re: clicktilluwin is now gone
 

crohrs:

I highly suggest that since this version was available as long as it was, and downloaded by many people, it is your duty to post a warning on your website about the problem you had and also post a fix to remove the problem software and trojan.

Re: clicktilluwin is now gone
 

crohrs:

Since you claim you did not know what clicktilluwin did, have you tested out the other Spyware that you are packaging with your software ? I think you need to test and understand all of the software (spyware) you bundle with your product, before you decide to include it. Have you tested the other spyware in your product ??

crohrs: 100% sure, as TruStarwarrior has also confirmed.

VTOLfreak: mdm.exe may be the Microsoft "Machine Debug Manager", which is part of the Microsoft Script Debugger for Internet Explorer, or a similar type of Microsoft debugger. Usually, it's only there if you installed the IE script debugger.

As long as mdm.exe is being run from c:\windows\system\mdm.exe and the properties of the file show a bunch of microsoft copyrights and info, you're probably alright.

Zildy

More details about the trojan:

http://www.europe.f-secure.com/v-descs/dlder.shtml

LimeWire 2.0.4 beta
 

Folks,

Can one of you try LimeWire 2.0.4 beta for the PC and see if it has this adp.exe problem that you are reporting? We are running a Net2Phone installer that we are doing further investigation of. The installer will put shortcuts in your Start menu and desktop after you restart your system.

http://www.limewire.com/index.jsp/download_beta

Thanks
-greg

Re: LimeWire 2.0.4 beta
 

Oh, let me clarify one thing. Version 2.0.4 took out the Net2Phone installer. Please try it and if all looks good, we will go live with our second installer of the day!

Thanks
-greg

Greg,

I just installed 2.0.4 and did not see any of the trojans I have observed in the previous installations. I was getting adp.exe installed with 2.0.2 and 2.0.3.
It seems you have correctly identified and removed the malicious code installer. Good job.

LimeWire User.

Great 2.0.4 is going live
 

2.0.4 seems to check out. Thanks for the input. This new PC version is going live.

Thanks for everyones help!

-greg

Hosting ?

How big files are we talking ?

Under 2 MB I can help you .

My ISP doesn't force any limitations on my homepage .

(2MB because my 25MB webspace are almost full .)

The file is 1.5 MBs. Here's the download page:
http://www.geocities.com/burk017/download.html

There's one file you can download. Once you have it on your site, please let me know, and I will add it to the list of mirrors.

Thanks! :-)

Discoverd where mdm.exe came from ...

You were rigth , it came with some Office 2000 patches I installed .