MALICIOUS
180
Risk Score
Malware Insights
MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications
T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment
The sample is an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro-enabled spreadsheet. Heuristics indicate the presence of an Auto_Open macro, which is a common technique for initial execution. The macro sheet contains a HALT gate, suggesting an attempt to evade analysis. The macro sheet also uses dangerous functions like RUN, indicating it likely attempts to execute external code or commands.
Heuristics 4
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Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAMEoletools 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.
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XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FNExcel 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.
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XLM Auto_Open environment-evasion HALT gate high OLE_XLM_ENVIRONMENT_EVASION_HALTExcel 4.0 macro sheet auto-executes multiple GET.WORKSPACE / GET.WINDOW environment checks and halts execution when the host does not match the expected user environment. This is a common sandbox-evasion pattern in XLM malware and is stronger than a bare XLM macro-sheet indicator.
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Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPENWorkbook 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.
| Filename | Kind | Source | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
xlm_macros.txt0a608960d490011bcd9a9507ba430b158feb2c074a31c1a50d84d38914126d7b |
xlm-macro | oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) | 16182 bytes |
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