Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLSX — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 2b96e6a9335932d4…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLSX

35.5 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:36:44 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: e80ce0c27e6d77ba8734e19f4f1e4455 SHA-1: 70fb80c8064ec5ded86dd5e3cc86edc1ecce0274 SHA-256: 2b96e6a9335932d4f5b891c1ea031a240c18eca7b54adca5e4209b80bfad6546
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a critical finding. The heuristics indicate the use of dangerous formula APIs, including the RUN function, suggesting an attempt to execute arbitrary code. While no specific URLs or hashes were extracted, the presence of these macros strongly implies a malicious intent to run external commands or download further payloads.

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
5ca1601033873687da990cb64fee01830c86c603af5c6116cfce2e1fd96a9d9f		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6407 bytes

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