Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 26022fab297b50b6…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

51.5 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-10
MD5: 5adc65a2c7f95fd320242dbe3f4b725a SHA-1: 28d906ca0d3e58d690d6427ca1d12686e1aae7a9 SHA-256: 26022fab297b50b6b6f8704019b8bba765203f7bcbc0b125c83139164f790022
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 XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, including an Auto_Open macro, which is a strong indicator of malicious intent. The macros utilize dangerous API functions like FORMULA to construct and execute commands. Specifically, it appears to be downloading a payload using regsvr32.exe with the URL 'http://185.210.144.149/app/1BKfC3id6jsiH0MC/'. The ClamAV detection as 'Xls.Downloader.Emotet03220-9941298-0' further supports the Emotet family attribution. The script's primary function is to download and execute a second-stage payload from the embedded URLs.

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.Emotet03220-9941298-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03220-9941298-0
  • 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 6 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 http://www.ajaxmatters.com/c7g8t/kYHGlphIEPNOImddm1/
    • http://185.210.144.149/app/1BKfC3id6jsiH0MC/
    • http://45.76.178.115/sample_sticker/tihOPhaF1l0V/
    • http://academicinst.com/wp-includes/44ZVeVQBkeOG/
    • http://henrysfreshroast.com/0Rq5zobAZB/
    • http://13cuero.com/wp-admin/ff5srrfTNsCju6sD3/
    • http://abinsk.com/cgi-bin/fm63rXkG5Y/
    • 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
aa639861ddc5b5835fc6dc55f810a8cdd345d5a0f25a9228a1e87fb64257685f		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4348 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
ff04c6af5f59c8590aa4a7b71a1b2742e5c5b487ad6a63ca1d90a970ae623c5f		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1277 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
33ff727dfe6d455b4500b1331dbc121c2312bb4ec71c24948d23118c341dc852		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1213 bytes

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