Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 27c980cc4ef1fe34…

MALICIOUS

PDF

25.4 KB Created: 2011-72-51 03:25:00 Authoring application: String.fromCharCode
MD5: 0a0fe8d93bbdf17cf52ee0e6a7f3bfaf SHA-1: a49f449996f7137d5e0ff474d2bbe077d51d95d0 SHA-256: 27c980cc4ef1fe347858544b18888858e81cfbfcbf95457978131bec49de1c0b
376 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

This PDF document leverages multiple critical vulnerabilities (CVE-2009-4324, CVE-2009-0927, CVE-2007-5659, CVE-2008-2992) by using JavaScript embedded within its metadata. The JavaScript stager, recovered as 'info_arithmetic_stage_000.js', is designed to concatenate and evaluate strings derived from PDF metadata, ultimately leading to arbitrary code execution. The ML classifier strongly indicates maliciousness, and the presence of multiple exploit techniques points to a sophisticated attack.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 10

  • media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_4324
    PDF JavaScript calls media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 is a use-after-free in Adobe Reader's multimedia plugin triggered by media.newPlayer(). Actively exploited as a zero-day in December 2009. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_0927
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by Collab.getIcon() with a crafted argument. Allows arbitrary code execution. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 critical CVE exact CVE_2007_5659
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 is a buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long argument or heap-sprayed message field passed to Collab.collectEmailInfo(). Part of a series of Acrobat JS API exploits. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • util.printf — CVE-2008-2992 critical CVE exact CVE_2008_2992
    PDF JavaScript calls util.printf() — CVE-2008-2992 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long format-specifier argument. Widely exploited in the wild after disclosure. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • PDF metadata arithmetic JavaScript stager high PDF_INFO_ARITHMETIC_JS_STAGER
    PDF metadata hides JavaScript as arithmetic character-code tokens inside document information fields, then a launcher rebuilds it with String.fromCharCode and eval. The decoder is gated on metadata access from the launcher, a large arithmetic token table, and recovered exploit-like JavaScript.
  • PDF metadata JavaScript eval stager high PDF_METADATA_EVAL_STAGER
    PDF JavaScript reads document metadata fields such as title, subject, or producer, decodes character data with parseInt/String.fromCharCode style helpers, and evals the recovered stage. This is a high-signal exploit-kit staging pattern.
  • 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.
  • 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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0001_000.js
cc5c4234c7347d80237b300197f2d6c9407b2e1e7d8b8f3eaf4c6eed960179da
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 1 at offset 0x6271 530 bytes
info_arithmetic_stage_000.js
95c4660041ae11d794fd5e4448367380120c2331af203c3f7e624d891cb5a46b
deobfuscated-js PDF /Info Title arithmetic JavaScript at offset 0x23 3666 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 11 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).