Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 34fc29dcd890fbb5…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

243.2 KB Created: 2021-08-16 09:36:27 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 12.0000
MD5: 53e85f8436d183a75e72414f88928550 SHA-1: 27c0a5f4b650b886afdbae9243e89087d021256f SHA-256: 34fc29dcd890fbb5923ce64a4d9b693e9a35da591af42df261473ba785694537
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.001 PowerShell

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros that leverage dangerous functions like CALL and EXEC. The macro constructs a path to a script file, 'C:\ProgramData\vSqVTGMx.sct', and likely intends to write and execute it. This behavior is indicative of a downloader or initial access mechanism.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 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: FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE, EXEC, HALT 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.Trojan-a0425f7f2000faff-a0425f7f2000faff-9950268-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Trojan-a0425f7f2000faff-a0425f7f2000faff-9950268-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
bd255555c5c9bfee56885c23cc9a1c969b405fd8f4a4e932d2ca11538b54d4eb		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 787243 bytes

Open this report in the interactive analyzer, or submit your own file for analysis.