Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 4042117c5f0a3ad1…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:47:02 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2026-06-05
MD5: f829fa7345646ec4f18f4c843dfdb8e6 SHA-1: a071874978527cc363c1b99ea87465b2111addd9 SHA-256: 4042117c5f0a3ad1634740b16d13fb621a8ec8a375cb2ae1b598af2afa300568
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. Static analysis detected an Auto_Open defined name and the use of dangerous formula APIs, specifically the RUN function, indicating an attempt to execute arbitrary code. The presence of an Auto_Open macro strongly suggests the intent to automatically run malicious code upon opening the document, likely to download and execute a second-stage payload.

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) 6600 bytes
SHA-256: 0920c5722483ee049b3e0f11acca3354ecad46db0ecae4e7942b2a66bcfbbc93
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 -  eODmdwmp
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!C158 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - AYQkMizO len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - BoqJmnl len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - DFfvL len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dFOnJnFKEFdB len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - eMoUFeuvluDh len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - EunPIWtfvNQ len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kvlpLtNmt len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - mrlmwiW len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MxFSNYM len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - nbCDNIBS len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - NGKerOHQb len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - NJSLviZTG len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - nUdUsT len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OKBiTeZa len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OoisXVbdMP len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - SElfeX len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - tKpumxC len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZixvUtQl len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZWTUPJk len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZzeFkeT 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/ SST
' 00fd     10 L
... (truncated)