Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 1b69f93e2999946c…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

67.2 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-02-28
MD5: 776fac4e1d6d3a29e83c95db2e1b73cc SHA-1: 5195638fd04d71b60ff41740a1d43cb3dfe7ea7e SHA-256: 1b69f93e2999946cf4a4576ad5a2a89b319945289e677bc3f707d80a03b26c5a
290 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1218.010 System Binary Proxy Execution: Regsvr32 T1059.005 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This malicious Excel 4.0 macro-enabled document (XLSM) utilizes dangerous formulas like FORMULA to download and execute a payload. The heuristic 'SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND' indicates the use of 'regsvr32.exe /s SysWow64\' followed by URLs, suggesting it downloads and executes a second-stage payload from these locations. The ClamAV detection as 'Xls.Downloader.Emotet' strongly points to the Emotet family.

Heuristics 7

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 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: FORMULA 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.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03223-9940730-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03223-9940730-0
  • LOLBin token sequence in document text high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Extracted document text contains a Windows script/execution tool name (PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, regsvr32, …) within 220 characters of a dangerous flag, command verb, or URL. This is a visible 'run this' instruction in HTML/PDF/RTF lure bodies, or — in macro-laden Office files — the macro's own string-pool entries appearing adjacent in extracted text.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 5 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 https://krikasoft.com/wp-content/afvsnwR4ytuWc5RL/
    • https://gurmitjaswal.ca/lezwm/hMkJoX/
    • https://simulateur.olsenandg.com/macd-10gbe/Vcwwqm/
    • https://shadesofask.com/sw1t/P/
    • https://2020.marseilleseriesstories.com/at124v/70KvmeU/
    • https://krikasoft.com/wp-content
    • https://juntadeconfrariesdese.live-website.com/wp-content/jH/
    • 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 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
b6e93d5392d84963571b89c2d6dff72607319cb7f05b0f8deb10f8cc79105800		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4017 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
6c16f2bbad4dedff8e684023fa5f154a889a326dfb592b5d14af9db82c3ba6bb		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1278 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
b34123e7ef14b10bcbf2a81ae581d477de178a5685b1b05752890cc3f09ace87		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1152 bytes

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