Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 3b53c3b0b3737d53…

MALICIOUS

PDF

5.3 KB
MD5: 2a35c5addf4fe3f089c6bb5863aa1035 SHA-1: 3dbc5c4aacd1bc6fbaffe2d72373e20cae98b139 SHA-256: 3b53c3b0b3737d538fe89a58edd2da59ee520ae79759cffac6f924ad0d59172c
144 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The PDF file was flagged as malicious by multiple engines, including a high-confidence ML classifier and ClamAV, which identified it as Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178. Static analysis revealed the presence of JavaScript actions and embedded JS streams, with decoding filters like ASCIIHexDecode and ASCII85Decode, often used in PDF exploits. The differential parser also failed, indicating potential obfuscation or structural anomalies common in malicious PDFs. The primary attack vector appears to be leveraging embedded JavaScript to execute malicious code.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 7

  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • 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)
  • ASCII85Decode filter (with exploit indicators) low PDF_FILTER_85
    ASCII85 encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — uncommon outside of obfuscation
  • PDF differential parser failed info PDF_DIFFERENTIAL_PARSE_FAILED
    The cross-check parser (pdfminer.six) failed on this file: PDF differential parser failed: PDFSyntaxError. Static heuristics still ran and any of their findings above are valid; only the differential cross-check signal is missing.

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