Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 03e27487b45661b1…

MALICIOUS

PDF

85.7 KB
MD5: 9d74f1284e16cd94925daa89347c1649 SHA-1: 6aab26a1aa1e641db3b39a0697fb5f39d5ab8d3a SHA-256: 03e27487b45661b165cdf518be6c9590fb9d0c087eb0b1788d6a2b0628694da2
352 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

This PDF file contains XFA (XML Forms Architecture) which is known to be a vector for exploits. Heuristics indicate a JavaScript exploit cluster and heap-spray, specifically targeting Adobe Reader vulnerabilities. The embedded script, although truncated, contains obfuscated JavaScript code that likely attempts to download and execute a second-stage payload, as suggested by the 'PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER' and 'PDF_XFA_HEAP_SPRAY' firings. The ClamAV detection ID 'Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0' further confirms its malicious nature.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 12

  • XFA form contains risky executable script high CVE related PDF_XFA_SCRIPT
    PDF embeds an XFA form whose script block contains exploit, submission/launch, or shell-execution primitives. Ordinary LiveCycle print/update scripts are left as generic XFA/JS signals unless stronger behavior is present.
  • 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.
  • XFA JavaScript heap-spray exploit code critical PDF_XFA_HEAP_SPRAY
    PDF contains XFA script content with heap-spray or shellcode-like JavaScript markers such as large encoded word sequences, util.pack, large arrays, or spray variable names. This is a weaponised Adobe Reader exploit pattern, not a normal interactive form.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • 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.
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream low PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • AcroForm button with action trigger low PDF_ACROFORM_BUTTON
    PDF contains a /Btn form field together with a SubmitForm/URI/Launch/JS trigger — this is the building block of fake 'Download' or 'Open' button overlays used in PDF phishing lures
  • 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://ns.adobe.com/xdp/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-template/2.5/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_pdf_script_000004c7.bin
d44eb8ce4c7b345c6b77b285ebfee6cac0ad332f9e746abb9f065827ba35d98b
pdf-embedded-script PDF raw stream script payload at offset 0x4C7 86502 bytes