IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 44862b98e91d9947…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

174.2 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: bf2fbaa972fea133272c367c0f8acb9c SHA-1: 5b8f328004e3b99d6eba775294ce7d69a635ae6f SHA-256: 44862b98e91d9947959ff40171641a98a8cbd2a67b64ae259185d1d94bbf8333
268 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros that utilize dangerous functions like EXEC and REGISTER to download a payload from one of the provided URLs. The ClamAV detection and heuristic firings strongly indicate this is a downloader for the IcedID family. The macros are designed to execute a second-stage payload, likely for further network compromise or credential theft.

Heuristics 8

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA, REGISTER, EXEC, GOTO, HALT critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0
  • Auto_Open macro high OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains vbaProject.bin — VBA macros present
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 3 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://83.136.232.110/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://185.212.131.194/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://190.14.37.247/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://83.136.232.110/
    • http://185.212.131.194/
    • http://190.14.37.247/
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 5

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
af618093826e7cd8f98cb2dae3fa7d9cae890be6efded60ec1d840363fc17149		 vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 1066 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
faf62e9f12a7b764345f45df7990cd264ca742932123aa2311f15843cb753193		 vba-project OOXML VBA project: xl/vbaProject.bin 13824 bytes
xlm_sheet_00.xml
6cf1b0d22a0329a8750bdd97f81d923f704ba07c9fab5043b6f099f8b9e8215e		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 3903 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_01.xml
d4b7c27cef36121e9a1cebb537b1497d6dbdefb54b4e63fb30fb0a139195f54c		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1619 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_02.xml
9fbf900cb2210fde894a240dc74a5d998ab7c73f2130162b2dc94ce5dd71d494		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet3.xml 1616 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).

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