Gorillaprice
Table of Contents
Overview
GorillaPrice (cataloged across endpoint security telemetry and antimalware engines under signatures including Adware:Win32/GorillaPrice, PUA:Win32/GorillaPrice, and PUP.Optional.GorillaPrice) is an aggressive shopping adware and browser-modifying potentially unwanted application active since 2014. Marketed to consumers as a helpful comparison-shopping and discount coupon utility, GorillaPrice typically arrives bundled with freeware downloads, deceptive browser extension packages, and media players. Once installed, GorillaPrice runs persistent background processes and installs extension hooks into Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer. As users navigate e-commerce and retail portals (such as Amazon, eBay, or Walmart), GorillaPrice intercepts visited URLs, scrapes product keywords, and injects intrusive overlay price comparison widgets, deceptive discount banners, and sponsored redirection links into legitimate shopping pages, monetizing traffic through affiliate marketing commissions.
Known aliases
Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:
Family Pedigree & Lineage
Malware authors regularly fork and iterate upon existing codebases. Observed upstream lineage and downstream variants for this family include:
Known Derivatives & Downstream Variants: Adware:Win32/Gorillaprice.A · Pua:Win32/Gorillaprice.B
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
This family has been observed using the following ATT&CK techniques: T1185 · T1176 · T1547.001 · T1071.001 · T1082
Tactical Mitigations
Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:
- T1071.001: Implement web filtering and SSL/TLS inspection to detect malicious command and control (C2) traffic hiding in HTTP/HTTPS.
- T1185: Enforce strong MFA and use browser isolation or hardened browsers for sensitive financial or administrative portals to defeat session hijacking.
MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures
Defensive techniques mapped to counter the offensive tradecraft observed in this family (via the MITRE D3FEND matrix):
| D3FEND ID | Countermeasure Name | Tactic | Countered ATT&CK | Defensive Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
D3-WAF | Web Content Filtering & Inspection | Filter | T1071.001 | Block newly registered domains (NRDs) and inspect HTTP Host and URI headers for known C2 profiles. |
D3-SDA | System Discovery Analysis | Detect | T1082 | Alert on rapid enumerations of systeminfo, hostname, and registry hardware trees in short intervals. |
D3-BEA | Browser Extension Allowlisting | Harden | T1176 | Deploy enterprise browser policies via GPO or Intune to block unauthorized side-loaded extensions and add-ons. |
D3-MitBA | Man-in-the-Browser Analysis | Detect | T1185 | Deploy browser extension whitelisting and hardware-backed session binding to prevent rogue DOM and socket injection. |
D3-RPM | Registry Persistence Monitoring | Detect | T1547.001 | Audit and restrict write privileges to user and machine-level Registry Run/RunOnce keys using Endpoint Privilege Management. |
Tiered Detection Rules (Cisco CAIRN Model)
Modern threat detection requires multi-layered rule engineering. We classify detections into three operational tiers based on signal fidelity:
Tier 1 Primitive Artifact Rule (Fast Triage)
Matches raw strings and file markers. Vulnerable to binary repacking and simple obfuscation.
rule MALWARE_WIN_GORILLAPRICE_T1_ARTIFACT {
meta:
description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Gorillaprice"
tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
date = "2026-10-14"
strings:
$s1 = "gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$s2 = "adware:win32/gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$s3 = "pua:win32/gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$s4 = "pup.optional.gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$s5 = "adware.gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$s6 = "win32/gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$s7 = "gorillaprice shopping assistant" ascii wide nocase
condition:
uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}
Tier 2 Behavioral Context Rule (Process Chains & Sigma)
Tracks parent-child process anomalies and suspicious scripting telemetry. Resilient against file renames.
title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Gorillaprice (Adware) Execution & Triage
id: 79ed0485-a7f6-53ca-8c90-15741ee63118
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
with the Gorillaprice malware family. Detects suspicious execution from temporary
user directories with hidden window flags and background transfer utilities.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/gorillaprice
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/ransomware-protection
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/
author: Ricky Jordan, Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst, SystemHelpDesk MSP
date: '2026-10-14'
modified: '2026-10-14'
tags:
- attack.adware
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1185
- attack.t1176
- attack.t1547_001
- attack.t1071_001
- attack.t1082
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_process:
Image|endswith:
- \cmd.exe
- \powershell.exe
- \cscript.exe
- \wscript.exe
CommandLine|contains:
- AppData\Local\Temp
- -WindowStyle Hidden
- /e:jscript
- bitsadmin /transfer
condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: medium
Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint Rule (High Fidelity)
Deep signature matching distinctive operational fingerprints and payload characteristics.
rule MALWARE_WIN_GORILLAPRICE_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
meta:
description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Gorillaprice tradecraft"
tier = "T3 - Attribution Fingerprint"
confidence = "High (Confirmed Family Signature)"
author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
date = "2026-10-14"
strings:
// Core family identifier & heuristic payload signatures
$attrib_str = "gorillaprice" ascii wide nocase
$pe_magic = "MZ" ascii
$net_marker = "http" ascii nocase
condition:
uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and ($attrib_str and $net_marker) and filesize < 15MB
}
References & External Analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Adware:Win32/GorillaPrice?
GorillaPrice is an aggressive adware program that injects unauthorized price-comparison widgets, discount coupons, and sponsored banners into web browsers.
How does GorillaPrice monitor online shopping activity?
It hooks browser navigation APIs to inspect visited e-commerce URLs, extracting product names and keywords to request targeted affiliate ads.
How does GorillaPrice get installed on Windows computers?
It is commonly bundled inside free software downloads, third-party download wrappers, and deceptive browser extension pop-ups.
Why is GorillaPrice classified as a Potentially Unwanted Application?
Due to deceptive distribution, unauthorized browser modifications, data tracking of shopping habits, and intrusive banner injection, security vendors classify it as a PUA.
How can I remove GorillaPrice from my web browser?
Remove the GorillaPrice extension from browser settings, uninstall the program via Windows Settings, and perform a full scan with Windows Security or Malwarebytes.
How do I remove the Gorillaprice Adware from Windows?
Manual removal of Gorillaprice is highly discouraged as it may leave persistence mechanisms intact. We recommend disconnecting the device from the internet and utilizing a professional incident response service or enterprise-grade EDR software to conduct a full forensic sweep.
Is Gorillaprice a virus or a Adware?
Gorillaprice is classified as a Adware. Unlike traditional viruses that infect files, modern malware like Gorillaprice typically operates as a standalone payload designed to compromise systems, steal data, or deploy secondary stage implants.
What are the main symptoms of a Gorillaprice infection?
Symptoms of Gorillaprice can include unexpected system slowness, unauthorized outbound network traffic to unknown IP addresses, disabled security software, and suspicious background processes running from AppData or Temp directories.
Protect Your Network Against Adwares
Want to prevent Gorillaprice and similar threats from compromising your organization? Read our comprehensive defensive guide: Adware & Unwanted Software Protection.
📣 Threat Intel Correction or Update?
Notice an outdated IOC, unlisted alias, or disputed attribution? Threat researchers are invited to propose an update on GitHub or contact the SystemHelpDesk research desk. All community revisions are credited in our public CHANGELOG.
Machine-readable
Get this profile as JSON: https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/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.