Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 361603637e4acdcc…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

33.6 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:17:20 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-16
MD5: acd801ef5161661ccb5c438b05cd9fac SHA-1: c391510e81e75bd2299b61b66fb12171cad6da05 SHA-256: 361603637e4acdcc94696a68e453ede4a1d79ecd5cebc67361e7643781d39b52
290 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Service Execution: Visual Basic T1218.010 System Binary Proxy Execution: Regsvr32 T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The sample is an XLSM file containing Excel 4.0 macros, identified by ClamAV as Emotet. The macros utilize dangerous functions like FORMULA to construct and execute commands. Specifically, it appears to construct a command to download and execute a DLL using regsvr32.exe from one of the embedded URLs, such as https://www.alejandrovillar.com/MSL/eKDWjpa4OHRxpysOTFe/. The use of hidden sheets and the Auto_Open defined name are common techniques for obfuscating malicious macro execution.

Heuristics 7

  • 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: 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.Emotet03222-9941788-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03222-9941788-0
  • LOLBin token sequence in document text high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Extracted document text contains a Windows script/execution tool name (PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, regsvr32, …) within 220 characters of a dangerous flag, command verb, or URL. This is a visible 'run this' instruction in HTML/PDF/RTF lure bodies, or — in macro-laden Office files — the macro's own string-pool entries appearing adjacent in extracted text.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 5 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 https://www.alejandrovillar.com/MSL/eKDWjpa4OHRxpysOTFe/
    • https://alexetaurore.com/wanted/pfFtzaJovICU81kfuUp/
    • http://balibuli.hu/cgi-bin/WDDM0VHSK4VcOFmU/
    • https://al-brik.com/vb-w/U/
    • https://alejandrastamateas.com/web/ZxA3zHwsH3r/
    • http://ayursoukhya.org/wp-includes/XI35qPGHvszZ1u/
    • https://aldibiki.com/prettyPhoto/gLFRzQV0VunO/
    • 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
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
db0a59e4a9d5995912532cf04297a579397bf9cc37c53dfcf4ddd0de285133c8		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4122 bytes

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