IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 32e52d829bbde235…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

186.6 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 0c85b4bdd02961753b9a14cd9a75e945 SHA-1: bbe0003a47b518f0ccc0d55c83328225b6b46b19 SHA-256: 32e52d829bbde235d7d00c6c1752f7ee5114de97eee59b22957d0adfab84c9e9
242 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Service Execution: Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File: Malicious File T1059.001 Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The file is an Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) containing Excel 4.0 macros. These macros utilize dangerous functions like FORMULA to call external APIs, a common technique for downloading and executing payloads. The ClamAV detection explicitly names 'Xls.Downloader.IcedID', and an embedded URL was found, strongly suggesting this is a downloader for the IcedID banking trojan.

Heuristics 5

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0
  • Embedded URL info EMBEDDED_URL
    One or more URLs were extracted from the document. The URL itself is not a detection — see the per-URL labels for which channel (macro, JS, link annotation, document body, ...) reached each URL.
    URL http://feedbackdownload.download/44389,7571259259.jpg
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
ce3b78405257ea5374a0faa3cde9f6cc12042c699ad21956c13a3f7bb60a8833
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet2.xml 1110 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
989f17e30085fd1692e3b77bb5cf92f7e8f334c5a32a413e6b1343dcffe82e18
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 1486 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
684f6da319df36c5519b995abe343678bc33c6a88226ba5f477a9e49024c7d96
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet3.xml 1299 bytes