Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 3878fbe48c3bbb74…

MALICIOUS

PDF

23.6 KB
MD5: 39ac919defa970b920ed283063135676 SHA-1: aae4eff19ed22cdb5886ea03d2dcb3b3048e9afd SHA-256: 3878fbe48c3bbb74454751d4a7ac02fe82bd46c7e5d2d3ae6f0adf5c17edc7a0
120 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF contains embedded JavaScript, identified by the PDF_JAVASCRIPT and PDF_JS heuristics. The PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER firing, along with the ML_NYX_PDF_MALICIOUS score, strongly indicates a JavaScript-based exploit. The extracted JavaScript files, 'javascript_obj0099_000.js' and 'deobfuscated.js', are the likely components responsible for executing the malicious payload. The script's obfuscated nature and the presence of 'String.fromCharCode' suggest it's designed to evade detection and download further malicious content.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9994

Heuristics 7

  • PDF JavaScript exploit cluster critical PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER
    PDF combines an executable JavaScript/action surface with exploit staging indicators such as eval/unescape/fromCharCode, XFA script content, or a related CVE pattern. Benign form JavaScript remains low-severity, but this correlated cluster is high-confidence malicious behavior.
  • JavaScript action low PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • Embedded JS stream low PDF_JS
    PDF references a /JS stream. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE
    String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
  • PDF paints image(s) but contains no text operators info PDF_IMAGE_ONLY_LURE
    PDF has 1 image XObject(s) and the content stream contains no text-emitting operators (BT/ET, Tj, TJ, ', ") in either raw bytes or decompressed streams — this is the screenshot-as-PDF pattern used to bypass text-based scanners and to deliver instructions purely through rendered pixels. It is informational unless paired with invisible links or risky URI context.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • 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://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0099_000.js
72fce5e714fda83fd02f56a27c88fb1633b623d60f5219845139aa0c1880d27a
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 99 at offset 0x548D 8681 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 9 long base64-like blob(s).
deobfuscated.js
735528950c44e463a404458bee30dc798ad4ae9943b1f8828a693c0b49fcb70c
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 40156 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 4 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 18 long base64-like blob(s).