Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 028a360c1966a2b4…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-27 11:42:31 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-09-16
MD5: 1a5f49d60889b9f27ab375297acc7846 SHA-1: d090e9dbafd621621d9b89d7936b7036f0006d00 SHA-256: 028a360c1966a2b469e3d928f6fcdf033965db2cccaaf4bb82c3459e287fd082
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

This Excel file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a known method for executing malicious code upon opening the workbook. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN indicates an intent to execute arbitrary commands. While no specific URLs or hashes were extracted, the macro's structure strongly suggests it acts as a downloader for a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6862 bytes
SHA-256: c5d17dfe6faad1915c79684f47d7200a6cdf648ceb54a88302b4f21d4a199b1d
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     20 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  OvLvkKBDPRj
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!F137 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - BgIlATqlIGt len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - BIBqazTL len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - CDMrdjBExvh len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - CReKodZDRqy len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dgPLG len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - joauLtRjV len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kSYIbQlkQ len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - likUdAIBKJx len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lLSmx len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lvvaAvieR len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lwUjFZ len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PMBRmRBlqzr len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - THJhyHXTuL len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - VDBehkJsCCm len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vziRNXH len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - WUnWvbqKsPw len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - WYzIr len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - XHtoP len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - xTuXzZa len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - YIcFGqkSr len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00
... (truncated)

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