Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLS — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 3a103d19ab6b485b…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

138.0 KB Created: 2009-08-28 01:13:41 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 7660891f8559f1ca4e603c49bd42a139 SHA-1: eab012c85ba83f6ff4aed07cdfb3ac68f9fb96eb SHA-256: 3a103d19ab6b485b3dc47012c91dfba33b4e83f0dfb68ebb65e18e17f1df89d7
200 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1059.001 PowerShell T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment

The file contains legacy Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros, specifically an Auto_Open function, which is a known technique for executing malicious code. Heuristics indicate the presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN, suggesting the macro is designed to execute arbitrary commands. The embedded text mentions 'Excel Formula Macro Virus (XF.Classic)' and 'Poppy by VicodinES', which are indicators of older malware families. The macro sheet itself is named 'XL4Poppy', further reinforcing this. The primary attack pattern is likely the execution of a second-stage payload via the Auto_Open macro.

Heuristics 4

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools 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.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 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.
  • Legacy Excel formula macro virus marker critical OLE_XLS_FORMULA_MACRO_VIRUS
    Workbook stream contains self-identifying legacy Excel formula macro virus markers. This indicates the document carries formula macro virus content even when no VBA project or modern XLM macro-sheet structure is present.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook 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.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
035ff5194ad0794b0181dac6ebdee2696fc91e1ed587d7995526d2d0d297387f		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 59029 bytes

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