Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 1a7d2acd4a8cd1fa…

MALICIOUS

PDF

104.8 KB
MD5: d9026a063439ec174242562218d6ceee SHA-1: 21fd41a09bef61be7432d2d3fa8550d5b5d008a5 SHA-256: 1a7d2acd4a8cd1fa08d7e865f9fd08190de2e950dca6605449d94757ebf54bdb
228 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF contains embedded script payloads and uses XFA forms with executable scripts, indicating an exploit attempt. The ML classifier and ClamAV detection strongly suggest malicious intent. The embedded file 'embedded_file_obj0008.bin' is likely the delivered payload.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 8

  • 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.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Dropped-78 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Dropped-78
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium 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.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0008.bin
4fe51727dd6feabb1c72c5a453c2be992bb0cb991fdea7e3a840bef21afda324
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 8 at offset 0xE2 15227 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).