Logrotate.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Logrotate.exe process comes from a malicious program that can properly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU usage.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review
It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!
When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.
Gridinsoft Anti-Malware 6-day trial available.
EULA | Privacy Policy | 10% Off Coupon
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to be the first to know about news and our exclusive materials on information security.

What is Logrotate.exe process?

Logrotate.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have actually pointed out earlier, Logrotate.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be diverse, however, the consequences are almost always the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware power of your desktop to conduct this procedure. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you probably want to use your system for other tasks – it will continuously use over 80% of your processor power.

Logrotate.exe Windows Process

Logrotate.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Logrotate.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can cause unhappy results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end machine is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)
  • You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages
  • Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources
  • Windows Defender does not respond
  • How dangerous is the Logrotate.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Firstly, Logrotate.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who does a job online.

    Logrotate.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Logrotate.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Hdaudio.exe, Msx.exe, Kruspeedup.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Logrotate.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your system. Logrotate.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To execute all malevolent functions correctly, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and increase power bills. PC components are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered processor fan is hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Logrotate.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Logrotate.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources

    Coin miners are the most widespread malicious programs among “severe” malware. Adware often works as a carrier for Logrotate.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Logrotate.exe is just among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Logrotate.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Getting rid of such a virus involves making use of specific software. Appropriate security tool should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have on-run security in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the specified features.5

    Before the virus removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Logrotate.exe miner consumes a lot of processor capacity, it is required to stop it before launching the security program. Otherwise, your scan will last for years, even though the GridinSoft program is pretty lightweight.

    Booting the PC into Safe Mode with Networking

    Press the Start button, then choose Power, and click on Reboot while holding the Shift key on the keyboard.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    Windows will reboot into recovery mode. In that mode, choose Troubleshoot→ Startup Settings→ Safe Mode with Networking. Press the corresponding button on your keyboard to choose that option.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Logrotate.exe coin miner virus with GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. You can use this anti-malware program for free during its 6-day trial period. In that term, all functions are available, and it takes no payments to remove malware from your system.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    When the scan is finished, press the Clean Now button to remove all detected elements from your system. This procedure takes less than a minute.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Logrotate.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Logrotate.exe

    Description: The Logrotate.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Logrotate.exe will create your CPU to go for very warm temperatures for prolonged periods of time, which could reduce the life of the CPU.

    Operating System: Windows

    Application Category: Trojan

    Sending
    User Review
    3.8 (5 votes)
    Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)

    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

    Spanish Turkish

    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

    Leave a Reply

    Sending