Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 1896fcf6cd731078…

MALICIOUS

PDF

23.3 KB
MD5: a6f536f2bb370208173df3459a60f58a SHA-1: 936aab6ddfdb5612e44039b84b1ed349dfdaaaac SHA-256: 1896fcf6cd731078ecf868343193ca6a1daf003bb4206b64b7df41bc4147b935
324 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

This PDF file exploits CVE-2010-0188, a known vulnerability in Adobe Reader related to XFA forms and TIFF images, to execute a malicious payload. The embedded JavaScript, which is heavily obfuscated, is designed to download and run a second-stage artifact, identified by ClamAV as Win.Trojan.Agent-36103. The ML classifier strongly indicates maliciousness.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9996

Heuristics 13

  • Adobe Reader LibTIFF XFA image exploit — CVE-2010-0188 critical CVE likely CVE_2010_0188
    PDF contains XFA image data with an inline crafted TIFF payload and shellcode/delivery markers. This is the data-bound variant of the CVE-2010-0188 Adobe Reader LibTIFF/XFA exploit shape.
  • 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.
  • ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Agent-36103 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Win.Trojan.Agent-36103
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • 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
  • PDF differential parser failed info PDF_DIFFERENTIAL_PARSE_FAILED
    The cross-check parser (pdfminer.six) failed on this file: PDF differential parser failed: PSSyntaxError. Static heuristics still ran and any of their findings above are valid; only the differential cross-check signal is missing.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.
  • 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/xci/1.0/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-template/2.4/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xtd/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-form/2.8/

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0008.bin
91a6c2d191768ab54027e652b3f551b37a1e6aca13e994e0184f4a37052f1550
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 8 at offset 0x41C 13742 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
javascript_obj0012_000.js
784a3219af11daf98cf784bdaa900f32438c4c8b6061e0866e5c359d349d6031
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 12 at offset 0x5302 8389 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Agent-36103
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).