Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 4361123c342a2143…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

138.5 KB Created: 2020-11-20 17:59:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 3a6a7b33b5c6abf54a7f5f1f1c2599fc SHA-1: ff56814d2979511de2bd2c1c99194d1ee5bff619 SHA-256: 4361123c342a2143f0461100480c7f3a34e7e468b6149077b98988cd6e830f17
148 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 PowerShell T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro that executes a PowerShell command. This command reconstructs a URL to download a file named 'ps.exe' and then executes it. The use of Excel 4.0 macros and the PowerShell execution points to a downloader or initial access stage.

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.
  • VBA project contains no executable statements low OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains a VBA project, but extracted modules only contain attributes/options/comments and no executable statements.

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
5202db8dc50145ceef38d3ff0b228f66a1d664a0c012e706441850471133394b
xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 1908 bytes
macros.bas
fed365d3401536fb63e11d0a36cc7c35338c0a8c74a96fb254c46366ad6287cd
vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 642 bytes