Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 226b427bb5804565…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.5 KB Created: 2020-11-27 11:47:32 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-09-17
MD5: 818ac10dc31034e326e7555bf885fd5d SHA-1: 4b7d1adf3b26908aa70d161c186acb998bcfc0e7 SHA-256: 226b427bb5804565d001efe5fd13f610e83eed2741489c10fc9257f9113baea7
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open function, which is a known method for executing malicious code. The critical heuristics indicate the presence of dangerous formula APIs within the macro, suggesting it's designed to run arbitrary commands. No specific family could be identified, but the technique is common for initial execution.

Heuristics 3

  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6680 bytes
SHA-256: a6617475a6e15cb183514683243d19a7927032d4bc3a8d9606079d182a1e9337
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  ikNXH
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - acpGg len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - AdFjcQDUn len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - AHZIHNdRp len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!C174 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - GJAyj len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - KGzak len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kogaYyiO len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - LhbRdtRDLm len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - llVSUrhArKXO len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lSLtQ len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - mrCJk len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - pZJyTqGcsIdU len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QCoBCCBvijKy len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - RQTndXN len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - SFIKwgSqUN len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - THRBDC len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - UhzzqyHeH len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - UNhbBQ len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vbJCqtgpJ len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - WHuUdOWJS len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - wIdhQERfiN len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABE
... (truncated)

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