Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 0218fa8dbae86e71…

MALICIOUS

PDF

47.5 KB
MD5: 9e36baa8bc0b033430cdf304f2802579 SHA-1: 961a5d7213f0aa3928cb5edb25eeeec89fd26e33 SHA-256: 0218fa8dbae86e71fe548e6c70cde209e32dc528eb714a22d369f7d00772bbd8
356 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.007 JavaScript

The PDF sample contains multiple critical heuristic firings indicating exploitation of Adobe Reader vulnerabilities related to U3D content (CVE-2009-3459 and CVE-2009-3953). Embedded JavaScript, including obfuscated and recovered stages, is present and likely responsible for executing the exploit. The script's functionality, particularly the use of `unescape` and `eval`, strongly suggests it is designed to download and execute a secondary payload.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 10

  • Adobe Reader U3D auto-activated 3D annotation — CVE-2009-3459 critical CVE likely CVE_2009_3459_U3D_AUTOACTIVATE
    PDF contains a /Subtype /3D annotation that is configured to auto-activate on page view (/3DA <</A /PV /AIS /I>>) alongside a /U3D stream and JavaScript. This is the document shape used by CVE-2009-3459 (Adobe Reader U3D CLODProgressiveMeshDeclaration heap overflow, APSB09-15): the U3D parser runs without any user interaction once the page is rendered, while the accompanying JavaScript prepares a heap-spray to land controlled memory inside the corrupted allocation.
  • Adobe Reader U3D CLODProgressiveMeshDeclaration exploit critical CVE likely CVE_2009_3953
    PDF combines malformed U3D 3D content with JavaScript/action activation. CVE-2009-3953 is an Adobe Reader/Acrobat U3D CLODProgressiveMeshDeclaration array-boundary vulnerability triggered by malformed U3D data in a PDF.
  • U3D/3D content in PDF — Adobe Reader 3D parser CVE-family indicator high CVE related PDF_U3D_CVE_RELATED
    PDF contains U3D (Universal 3D) or 3D annotation content — CVE-2011-2462 and CVE-2009-3953 are critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader's U3D processing that allow arbitrary code execution. U3D content in PDFs is extremely rare in normal documents.
  • PDF JavaScript exploit cluster critical PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER
    PDF combines an executable JavaScript/action surface with exploit staging indicators such as eval/unescape/fromCharCode, XFA script content, or a related CVE pattern. Benign form JavaScript remains low-severity, but this correlated cluster is high-confidence malicious behavior.
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
  • Generic recovered JavaScript exploit stage high PDF_GENERIC_STAGE_RECOVERY
    Bounded static stage recovery exposed hidden JavaScript through generic transforms such as null-byte collapse, percent decoding, marker replacement, arithmetic character codes, fromCharCode, numeric arrays, numeric-array minus-key decoders, alphabet-index arrays, /Producer half-difference metadata arrays, hex literals, marker-stripped Base64 literals, custom 6-bit XOR table decoders, or repeated-marker hex carriers. This rule is emitted only when the recovered stage contains exploit-like Acrobat JavaScript or shellcode markers.
  • JavaScript action low PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • Embedded JS stream low PDF_JS
    PDF references a /JS stream. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0009_000.js
72c2309202ad0d29d8842970b17facdf3cc0c8295e8666b0ffe1635ba44f3741
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 9 at offset 0x4F80 457 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
generic_stage_recovery_000.js
d2955c9968f63015222beb91e543c263bf76bdc5b11f439c589660a05ef4665b
deobfuscated-js generic stage recovery split-literal-normalize from JavaScript object 9 at offset 0x4F80 454 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
8945a0cef9ddf6a22f6decc289b523b264f9bcaea4703dc816de9174414c8507
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x2006 14437 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
u3d_00_off000051bb.bin
a96e1fca2499edf504d3934052ca1fc338d4b4898a65e6a361937ed1ba0dc0fe
pdf-3d-stream PDF U3D 3D stream at offset 0x51BB 28021 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact entropy is 7.79, consistent with packed or encrypted content.