Uihost.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Uihost.exe process, also known as UI Host, is a legitimate Windows process associated with McAfee Web Advisor. It is a legitimate process of McAfee network protection utilities. But since this process is considered legit, malware can take it to diguise itself among other processes.

Normally, Uihost.exe should not create any problems. It provides user interface to the network security utility, and even when you opened the app it should not take a lot of system resources. But once you see it draining a lot of your CPU power, this process is most likely a malicious copy. In particular, coin miner malware likes to take names of legit processes as a disguise.

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.

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What is Uihost.exe process?

As I said, original Uihost.exe is a legitimate process and is not a virus or malware. However, like any other system process, it is possible for malicious programs to disguise themselves by using a similar name. In this case, the most noticeable sign of a malicious copy is high CPU power, up to 70-80%. You will notice it even without opening the Task Manager – the system becomes exceptionally sluggish even on the simplest tasks.

Uihost.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use

Aside from high CPU usage, the definite sign of a malicious Uihost.exe instance is its file location. To check it, click the process in the Task Manager with right mouse button and choost “Open file location”. Genuine instance of this process resides in the C:\Program Files\McAfee\WebAdvisor\. If you see the file in another location, it means you deal with malware.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end computer is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

How dangerous is the Uihost.exe miner?

Firstly, Uihost.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

Uihost.exe Technical Summary.

“Visible” harm is not a single bad activity coin miners perform to your computer. Uihost.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious functions successfully, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.

Hardware effects of coin miner activity

Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine and raise electricity bills. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

Compact and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Uihost.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure¹. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

How did I get Uihost.exe coin miner virus?

Coin miners are one of the most prevalent malevolent programs through “serious” viruses. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Uihost.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that around 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Uihost.exe is just among them.²

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 suspicious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every installation. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your PC.

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

Eliminating such a virus needs using specific program. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak PCs. Additionally, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your protection solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits all of the specified qualities.³

Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Uihost.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU 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.

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 software, just like the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

Remove Uihost.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.

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

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.

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

1. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
2. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
3. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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