Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 464a52896534a58a…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

35.5 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:46:42 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: cb3b8881818552fe36763516be016680 SHA-1: 2786a841f328718812a1d3b52858084b4d8e1683 SHA-256: 464a52896534a58a89ea504a051225b01cf622a5c5d5548ed8e06c05dca336ae
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The sample is an Excel file containing Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro. This macro is configured to execute dangerous formula APIs, including a RUN function, indicating an intent to execute arbitrary code. The presence of an Auto_Open macro strongly suggests the file is designed to download and execute a second-stage payload upon opening.

Heuristics 3

  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
88c9c9771f33fa526f3e00825a3bc5076f77236d56754415b8f02f4ef94d2a29		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6363 bytes

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