Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 417a1eaab9baf001…

MALICIOUS

PDF

2.9 KB Created: 2005-09-29 09:27:34 UTC Authoring application: Acrobat Distiller 8.2.0 (Windows)
MD5: 03660c16565d0b6a73bf4f3ec8888fc9 SHA-1: f7e409b0e58bdfcc6722e49652ec13d57c07851e SHA-256: 417a1eaab9baf0019259a5c357019bb86c2cba12aec1141d894e420d03ac8c8b
162 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF file contains an embedded XFA form that triggers the CVE-2010-0188 exploit, targeting a vulnerability in Adobe Reader's handling of TIFF images within XFA content. This exploit allows for arbitrary code execution. The file also contains a JavaScript action and an embedded file, suggesting a multi-stage attack. The ClamAV detection further confirms its malicious nature.

Heuristics 8

  • Adobe Reader LibTIFF XFA image exploit — CVE-2010-0188 critical CVE likely CVE_2010_0188
    PDF contains XFA image data with an inline crafted TIFF payload and shellcode/delivery markers. This is the data-bound variant of the CVE-2010-0188 Adobe Reader LibTIFF/XFA exploit shape.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36015 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36015
  • 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • 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
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0004.bin
a0d5b5451e26d98afc141204459393141129146814ff463086dd13e6a93ef79e
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 4 at offset 0x1D5 12826 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).