Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 2a2c497aee326744…

MALICIOUS

PDF

132.6 KB
MD5: a3f5e925251b3f369530e09a7fb7b217 SHA-1: a6dd7f80cf80a434b4c22b6b6ee2dd6d06afdd25 SHA-256: 2a2c497aee326744711583040e5a8714aae354995b67a696910919dafd82b2cb
418 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript that utilizes character-table indexing and evaluation to exploit several critical vulnerabilities including CVE-2009-4324, CVE-2009-0927, CVE-2007-5659, and CVE-2008-2992. This indicates the primary function is to leverage these exploits for arbitrary code execution. The embedded JavaScript is heavily obfuscated, making its precise second-stage actions difficult to determine without further dynamic analysis, but the exploitation vector is clear.

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)
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36388 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36388
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • Character-table JavaScript eval stager high PDF_JS_CHAR_TABLE_EVAL_STAGER
    PDF JavaScript reconstructs an exploit stage by indexing into a small character table, appending hundreds of one-character fragments, joining the array, and evaluating the result. This static fallback fires only after the bounded decoder recovers an exploit-like stage, so it catches this obfuscation even when no single CVE API signature is available.
  • 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.
  • 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_obj0076_000.js
7270b2747d4ac5953e39f842275c580dde49537fb8257a6ca102971ab4d3b1bf
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 76 at offset 0x2C2 119441 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Js.Exploit.HTML-27
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
char_table_stage_000.js
afa7655b1ec31417089fe8f7d987fafdb64520315c765d6d4f281c64ea474985
deobfuscated-js char-table indexed JavaScript (PDF /JS object 76) at offset 0x2DC 3858 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).