PUP.Optional.DNSUnlocker

Short bio

PUP.Optional.DNSUnlocker is Malwarebytes’ detection name for a family of adware programs that change the victim’s DNS settings on Windows systems.

Type and source of infection

PUP.Optional.DNSUnlocker redirects users to sites of its choosing by changing the DNS settings on the user’s machine. The potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) in this family are usually included in bundlers.

Protection

Malwarebytes protects users from PUP.Optional.DNSUnlocker by using real-time protection.

Malwarebytes blocks PUP.Optional.DNSUnlocker

Remediation

Malwarebytes can detect and remove PUP.Optional.DNSUnlocker without further user interaction.

Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop.
Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
Click on the Get started button.
Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
Click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.

In some cases you may be prompted for a second reboot. This is necessary to restore your Internet connection.

Add an exclusion

Should users wish to keep this program and exclude it from being detected in future scans, they can add the program to the exclusions list. Here’s how to do it.

Open Malwarebytes for Windows.
Click the Detection History
Click the Allow List
To add an item to the Allow List, click Add.
Select the exclusion type Allow a file or folder and use the Select a folder button to select the main folder for the software that you wish to keep.
Repeat this for any secondary files or folder(s) that belong to the software.

If you want to allow the program to connect to the Internet, for example to fetch updates, also add an exclusion of the type Allow an application to connect to the internet and use the Browse button to select the file you wish to grant access.

Traces/IOCs

You may see this type of entries in FRST logs:

Tcpip\..\Interfaces\{GUID for the internet connection}: [NameServer] 82.163.143.153,82.163.142.155