Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 3e38d34a4cab7d3e…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:26:49 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-09-24
MD5: 33c3149a8f10637f3b5f746b7f0ef84c SHA-1: 2214eab18c260f697b5f296e185a102c57717d1e SHA-256: 3e38d34a4cab7d3e36d6f1b0e96bc1b0fe6e3f5521c992c9cd04fa1d14841528
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled workbook containing an Auto_Open defined name, which is a critical indicator of malicious intent. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN suggests the macro is designed to execute arbitrary code, likely to download and run a second-stage payload. No specific family could be identified, but the technique is common for initial execution.

Heuristics 3

  • 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.

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) 6574 bytes
SHA-256: 5106624d072722b143c6c15e880825e1f8b8fd66e693db5a109ce31a360dc609
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     17 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  UpJEVdmd
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - afUHtCLOiN len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - AILFnCKG len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!C175 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - CAfFkyay len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - CbocsJf len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ebbJbrcsR len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - gDcvsqhR len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - GmEdvBvpUy len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - gvwZFkeshH len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - hdTBIPlhz len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - JOshxe len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - KUYxgTVEMLB len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MEwHwOEOwzG len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ovYRKjJpk len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QfuVXm len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QkWvybgJGEV len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QNsTjHIBmP len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - qyrtgB len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - tqpJmUFfuNJ len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - TUCmukWsLO len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - uEvVGoxUbA 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
' 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
' 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
' 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
' 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
' 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
' 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/ SS
... (truncated)

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