Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 408c398d4adbdf7a…

MALICIOUS

PDF

3.9 KB
MD5: b422c0731fe62d270314f3124d7763a9 SHA-1: 1300c9449c0784457e39ab5dfbda742deda33c71 SHA-256: 408c398d4adbdf7a3f9a958f19eb6e3da3ecd8ba2745fa79a1b53bf1a4fa4e1f
142 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 JavaScript/JScript T1204.002 Malicious File

The critical ClamAV detection and high ML classifier score indicate this PDF is malicious. The presence of PDF-specific heuristics like PDF_JAVASCRIPT, PDF_JS, PDF_FILTER_HEX, and PDF_FILTER_85, combined with the ML_NYX_PDF_MALICIOUS firing, strongly suggests an exploit targeting PDF viewers. The embedded JavaScript, likely obfuscated by ASCIIHexDecode and ASCII85Decode filters, is designed to execute arbitrary code, probably to download and run a second-stage payload.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 6

  • 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