Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 0542c80579330742…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-27 11:46:25 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-05-23
MD5: bf39065faa79b69149d50f4f5cac713c SHA-1: 50b29ced4d49acbee9486395fb4dd46ad90a7785 SHA-256: 0542c80579330742d782692fd667107a1e39dcbfb8509f78e6bcc1d8f144246a
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled workbook. Static analysis detected an Auto_Open defined name and the use of dangerous formula APIs, indicating an attempt to automatically execute code upon opening. The specific dangerous formula API used (RUN) suggests the macro is intended to execute an external program or script.

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) 6626 bytes
SHA-256: d668520d226cbe508cb06b6184f7f5ee1a5ed0164f276703052fd98845d7c0bf
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     13 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  SdSU
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ASeqcHF len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!H190 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - BMLyrcuXLRZm len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - bvQQZUGrUot len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dwxdcFFyx len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - FlWhM len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - HgWOudbbbmii len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kmYjNjAVVCp len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kONLH len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lfZiOdYmnJ len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - nrcnjvcNmd len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OpxIJ len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QDiey len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - qMAFUKXDtfok len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - rtnQFrrsk len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vIuerga len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - XhBvLHfB len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - XldQfpQPX len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ySvjerEeuEFb len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - YUbqmjAbWj len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZqgJjLQIg 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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