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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 3fcb61eb0a502ebd…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

138.0 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 1fc8e84958d40886d6c701514c655cbe SHA-1: 55ba8bc1bcb801883ddd7bb1fd8ffa41672baf2d SHA-256: 3fcb61eb0a502ebda86dc313e7ce31a0ea2098b3172404afaa620f4c75b84d67
160 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File

The sample is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet. It contains an Auto_Open macro that uses the RUN function, indicating it attempts to execute an external program or script. The macro also contains a URL, 'http://bqx12lnjk03rrdio.xyz/i.', which is likely the source of the payload. The presence of a lure to enable macros further supports its malicious intent as a downloader.

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.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
3a08691eed72e5ed205a0b2d682f61d57bf1de10bae67e5c55da30ecdcba1b08
xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 4335 bytes