Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 40ec437d5c002c57…

MALICIOUS

PDF

6.8 KB
MD5: 63270104556dcdd81bca1aa2c19e9fb2 SHA-1: c0f2a3dcc4c5c5d3d4308f53da2d9fc4ae3f0ad5 SHA-256: 40ec437d5c002c57fd91e8db6b5225757fe71555a17b8304ab5d6df5e2de1dff
132 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF document contains embedded JavaScript that exploits CVE-2014-0496 via app.addToolButton/removeToolButton. The critical heuristic indicates that the PDF launcher decodes base-26 character pairs, subtracts a constant, and evaluates the result, suggesting it downloads and executes a second-stage payload. The deobfuscated JavaScript file 'base26_stage_000.js' was also extracted, further supporting the malicious intent.

Heuristics 7

  • app.addToolButton/removeToolButton — CVE-2014-0496 critical CVE exact CVE_2014_0496
    PDF JavaScript combines app.addToolButton() and app.removeToolButton() with heap-spray shellcode markers — the public Adobe Reader/Acrobat ToolButton use-after-free exploit shape for CVE-2014-0496. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Suspicious extracted artifact high EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • 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.
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • AcroForm button with action trigger low PDF_ACROFORM_BUTTON
    PDF contains a /Btn form field together with a SubmitForm/URI/Launch/JS trigger — this is the building block of fake 'Download' or 'Open' button overlays used in PDF phishing lures
  • 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/xdp/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xci/2.8/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-template/2.5/

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0003_000.js
39d775d906a48cb1331e5111c40f7f8494eae75a29324e4a5a6a8023a3d35684		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 3 at offset 0x409 15530 bytes
base26_stage_000.js
d9b1589ef739bb77ccdaf3416f79d048240379d0283daa4ae87313ec0715b535		 deobfuscated-js base26-decoded JavaScript (decompressed) at offset 0x60D 5913 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 45 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).

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