Gorillaprice

Overview

Adware:Win32/Gorillaprice is a deceptive adware framework and Potentially Unwanted Program (PUA) that silently infiltrates endpoints, typically bundled with freeware, to inject intrusive price-comparison widgets, banner advertisements, and hijack browser settings for affiliate monetization.

What is Gorillaprice?
To the average user, Gorillaprice is highly visible and deeply frustrating. When browsing shopping sites (like Amazon or eBay), Gorillaprice injects large 'price comparison' pop-ups, often leading to shady third-party vendors. The browser homepage is forcibly changed, and standard websites are flooded with injected banner ads. For security analysts, Gorillaprice operates on the Pay-Per-Install (PPI) model. It leverages deceptive installation tactics and aggressive persistence mechanisms to ensure the user cannot easily revert their browser settings, guaranteeing continued revenue generation.

Infection Vectors & Threat Hunting
Gorillaprice is almost exclusively distributed via deceptive software bundlers. When a user downloads a free PDF editor or media player from a third-party site, the Gorillaprice wrapper executes first. It employs 'Dark Patterns'—pre-checked boxes hidden behind 'Advanced' menus—to gain technical consent. Upon execution, it installs malicious browser extensions and frequently leverages Windows Group Policy (GPO) settings (`ExtensionInstallForcelist`) to lock the rogue extensions in place. It establishes persistence via Registry Run keys and scheduled tasks.

Forensic Analysis & Impact
The primary impact is a severely degraded user experience, compromised browsing privacy, and wasted helpdesk resources. Incident responders will observe anomalous HTTP/HTTPS traffic to known ad-tracking networks, particularly when the user navigates to e-commerce sites. EDR logs will show the initial installer attempting to modify browser preference files (e.g., Chrome's `Preferences` JSON file) and establishing unauthorized Group Policies.

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

Observed techniques used by this family, mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework:

Tactical Mitigations

Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:

• T1105: Implement network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) and host-based firewalls to block unauthorized inbound or outbound file transfers.

Generated Detections (Boilerplate)

These YARA and Sigma rules are auto-generated based on the family name and aliases. They must be heavily tuned before deployment in a production environment.

YARA Rule

rule MALWARE_WIN_GORILLAPRICE {
    meta:
        description = "Detects Gorillaprice (advanced_threat)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Boilerplate Generator"
        date = "2026-07-06"
    strings:
        $s1 = "gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: Suspicious Gorillaprice Activity
id: 51f82270c1cd0f5f6bfeaf3be7f608ed
status: experimental
description: Detects generic indicators of the gorillaprice malware family.
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\cmd.exe'
            - '\powershell.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - "*gorillaprice*"
    condition: selection
level: medium

Containment & Response Steps

Ordered checklist for responders. Adapt to your environment and engage professional support for active incidents.

1. Quarantine the endpoint to halt the active exfiltration of browsing telemetry and the downloading of further adware modules.
2. Audit Windows Group Policies and the Registry to remove any forced extension installation policies created by the adware.
3. Deploy an enterprise adware removal tool (e.g., AdwCleaner) to locate and strip the deeply embedded registry hooks and watchdog services.
4. Force a complete reset of all installed web browsers to factory defaults to eradicate the rogue extensions and restore the homepage.

What to Avoid

Common mistakes during response to this family that can destroy evidence, spread the infection, or worsen recovery.

1. Do not rely solely on the browser's 'remove extension' button; Gorillaprice frequently uses GPOs and watchdog services to immediately reinstall itself.
2. Avoid ignoring the infection; adware tracking data is highly detailed and may expose corporate activities or access to internal portals.

References & External Analysis

• Search "gorillaprice" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Families (Category: advanced_threat)

Explore other malware families in the same category:

• Webdiscover
• Addmepoint
• Babylon
• Tsingsoft
• Kido

Machine-readable

Get this profile as JSON: https://jordanricky1604-ship-it.github.io/malware-families-catalog/api/gorillaprice.json

Ecosystem & Interactive Environments

This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.