Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 038b6ffef44977f2…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:31:50 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 8db8701451c8a0a4c32fbcf81d286f93 SHA-1: 4963b050fbb39fc8617c47d1c8451011da7f0782 SHA-256: 038b6ffef44977f2b6783929df475cbe3a8267c5ac33f3179dd13ed92e9b4432
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The sample is an Excel file containing Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a critical finding. This indicates the file is designed to automatically execute malicious code upon opening. The presence of dangerous formula APIs further supports the malicious intent, likely for client execution.

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
2d3988c5c92bae1228654cf45ba450fe60c61b2d2368b8426038f69882c222cd		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6468 bytes

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