Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 229bfbb5cbfede09…

MALICIOUS

PDF

35.3 KB
MD5: 449a845f0c238f7cba560c5cef539d26 SHA-1: 596b1d8393d5bf7be30618002c40762e9088a41f SHA-256: 229bfbb5cbfede09757b2f1b76e5c15e074c0a08e940858c2e7ed344a752b986
174 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious Link

The PDF contains obfuscated JavaScript, identified by the 'PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER' heuristic, which is designed to download and execute additional payloads. The 'PDF_U3D_CVE_RELATED' heuristic indicates exploitation of a vulnerability related to Adobe Reader's 3D content parsing. The ClamAV detection 'Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35916' further confirms its malicious nature. The JavaScript appears to be a multi-stage dropper, likely leading to the execution of further malware.

Heuristics 8

  • U3D/3D content in PDF — Adobe Reader 3D parser CVE-family indicator high CVE related PDF_U3D_CVE_RELATED
    PDF contains U3D (Universal 3D) or 3D annotation content — CVE-2011-2462 and CVE-2009-3953 are critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader's U3D processing that allow arbitrary code execution. U3D content in PDFs is extremely rare in normal documents.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35916 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35916
  • Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper high PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER
    PDF JavaScript shows 5 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, hex_codec_loop, hex_dashed_payload, incremental_eval_build, repeated_pluginschk. This is strongly consistent with pre-2011 Adobe Reader PDF droppers — OpenAction JS reads encoded data from annotation subjects, decodes it through one or more hex / base-N loops, and invokes eval indirectly (method name built one character at a time). The actual CVE is hidden in the final decoded layer and is not visible via static analysis.
  • 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.
  • String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE
    String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • 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 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0005_000.js
6c41320119e160dc719997b9a2efb3600ea9d7e9d7e44b4dc2125762dc9f365f
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 5 at offset 0x14F 505 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
2f08113bb528bfda537cbc80d198451356ae313d1fd42828cf5352eaec8077f1
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1BFE 1663 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
deobfuscated.js
738873a2b0bf75694e9437b9470e29457ed26c21be8ca748c382efaf173fc39a
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 178477 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 7 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
u3d_00_off000020c1.bin
70cf2aead4823e6d2651c9281eed0aa967449da358f439efb9e8e707421175e0
pdf-3d-stream PDF U3D 3D stream at offset 0x20C1 28021 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact entropy is 7.79, consistent with packed or encrypted content.