Mshta.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Mshta.exe executable file belongs to a malicious program that can properly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin¹. It makes your personal computer roughly nonfunctional due to high CPU utilization. This process name originally belongs to a legitimate Windows element.

What is Mshta.exe process?

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

Mshta.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Mshta.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may lead to bad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

Microsoft Defender is stopped;

CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start

Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise

A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power

How dangerous is the Mshta.exe miner?

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

First of all, Mshta.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.

Mshta.exe Technical Summary.

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

“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your PC. Mshta.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malevolent operations effectively, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.

Hardware effects of coin miner activity

Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine and increase power expenses. PC elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

Little and covered CPU cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Mshta.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failur³. GPUs are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.

How did I get Mshta.exe coin miner virus?

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

The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

One more way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

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

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

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.

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.

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