Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 296c8a6641322249…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:34:51 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-06-13
MD5: 38c3c07a08e0dfce623a42165485af6d SHA-1: b8fc6189aa29b1fcc5a2c8d73843e0002754a528 SHA-256: 296c8a664132224994af8397e394ac3c2f335965577c856295f3c93cef094c3c
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 defined name, which is a critical finding indicating automatic execution. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN further suggests malicious intent. While the exact payload is not clear from the truncated macro listing, the mechanism points to a macro-based execution of potentially harmful code.

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) 6584 bytes
SHA-256: 30987e08e59c3285795ad895b466776fa4b076d6eb12747720c7a8f94dcb7326
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     16 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  spbiNop
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - aGQps len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!I185 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - CmTYcRS len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - coopAihlAW len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dWWasAxR len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - eVtiqBu len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - fEGWNShU len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - GFWhJRfCOhoW len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - imPlC len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - iyyvprLDzg len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kLziqqCG len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lIMDKy len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - rcZyPcQMfVyd len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - RnocOu len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - rTlxEsyKRChF len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - sazrmMAnF len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - SfNxEzqn len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - VCxOa len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - XpDMrPPvuAVx len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - yWUhHdKjUoR len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - zQmMdjMdNky 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 
... (truncated)

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