Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 0173054eee308aeb…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

243.8 KB Created: 2021-08-16 09:36:27 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 12.0000
MD5: 67ebf24549f30ed1dcee397ce0ac1842 SHA-1: 664b800645f05f0a8b0fa58ea030ee1559bea771 SHA-256: 0173054eee308aeb42e6ed04ca09adad125421fc18d8911cbd58fe9ad5362e72
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File Execution: Malicious File T1059.005 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The file is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) containing an Auto_Open macro. Critical heuristics indicate the use of dangerous XLM functions like EXEC and CALL, which are used to download and execute payloads. The macro constructs a path to a SCT file, likely a scriptlet, which is then executed.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE, EXEC, HALT critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Trojan-a0425f7f2000faff-a0425f7f2000faff-9950268-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Trojan-a0425f7f2000faff-a0425f7f2000faff-9950268-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • Embedded URL info EMBEDDED_URL
    One or more URLs were extracted from the document. The URL itself is not a detection — see the per-URL labels for which channel (macro, JS, link annotation, document body, ...) reached each URL.
    URL http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
7e56dabab574c1fcb18275ea5e5a0b1649e50077f7d189201ec8b8c5f3ddf1f8		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 778988 bytes

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