Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLSX — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 208af87b29ecd1b6…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLSX

31.0 KB Created: 2021-01-25 15:51:29 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 2173f999d25ff273d77ae0f0e72eb1ff SHA-1: 9a4109ca3120adce08df4b7353330c1587a65d23 SHA-256: 208af87b29ecd1b6f3130a47167a30de5a58b408f19ff2603f18b38d681111b4
160 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.005 Visual Basic

The sample is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet. It contains an Auto_Open macro that uses dangerous formula APIs, specifically the RUN function, indicating an attempt to execute arbitrary code. The document body explicitly instructs the user to enable editing and content, a common social engineering tactic to bypass macro security. No specific malware family could be identified, but the techniques suggest a downloader or initial access payload.

Heuristics 4

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
199c70b0b0744664ca3e9067731e60fd33f396811d39ec1e4a286cf00683375b		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 3526 bytes

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