Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 46d446dc4df82768…

MALICIOUS

PDF

51.0 KB Created: 2007-08-26 17:52:02 -05:00 Authoring application: TeX (via pdfeTeX-1.21a) First seen: 2026-05-11
MD5: d3d263af2fa05586d9dc0ec61dd5b0c8 SHA-1: 43b3cbdd42d1ad82af1064494041615d97969079 SHA-256: 46d446dc4df827688271bbbf613df99f1233f99079959f0bafa2dd9f36cfe3c2
534 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.007 JavaScript T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript that utilizes the `exportDataObject` function to extract and launch a Windows executable payload. This executable is disguised as 'LE.pdf' but the script attempts to rename it to 'LE.exe' and execute it. The critical heuristics indicate exploitation of CVE-2010-1240, a known vulnerability for command execution via PDF launch actions, and the detection of an embedded PE payload by ClamAV confirms its malicious nature.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9999

Heuristics 11

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-14242 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-14242
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C (if exist "%HOMEPATH%\\My Documents\\LE.pdf" (cd "%HOMEPATH%\\My Documents"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • 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.
  • JavaScript action low 1 related finding 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

Related samples 8

Ranked by shared artifacts, heuristics, extracted URLs, CVEs, and signatures.

Full JSON: related samples API

Extracted artifacts 6

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
LE.pdf pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 33 at offset 0x7935 37888 bytes
SHA-256: b532670871712a0ff6162ededd968caab654600038b866b8908a652f781b9f5a
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-6360730-0
Obfuscation or payload: likely
actual_type=PE; declared_or_context_type=PDF; filename=LE.pdf; kind=pdf-embedded-file Static shellcode analysis found candidate code region(s). Indicators: SC_PEB_ACCESS, SC_STR_GETPROCADDRESS, SC_STR_LOADLIBRARY Static shellcode analysis recovered API/import strings: GetProcAddress, ExitProcess, LoadLibraryA, VirtualAlloc
javascript_obj0034_000.js pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 34 at offset 0xC7F7 51 bytes
SHA-256: 97b829884145741c4521151e2204d3cb9ec67617874d222410b0928ea4cb6a1e
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
this.exportDataObject({ cName: "LE", nLaunch: 0 });
stream_004_off0000301c.bin decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0x301C 4049 bytes
SHA-256: a2851aaaee25628c7bfd28520a51d5b29a2859eb7b6aaf286009ee4eac2caeb9
font_00_type1_off00001244.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (type1) at offset 0x1244 3478 bytes
SHA-256: 223cfb1da989ee501836241830efa0d0222520d8f9ba04b0218dcca9e8254122
font_01_type1_off00002084.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (type1) at offset 0x2084 4029 bytes
SHA-256: f3ffffe0c897830f44f0bd7070917846b40f91cb936f86a4c509881d83c31690
font_03_type1_off00003fe2.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (type1) at offset 0x3FE2 13097 bytes
SHA-256: ef686dcee34ed1b08e5572a7dc746fad32644542221a0c894e787baaea51a0d3
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact entropy is 7.79, consistent with packed or encrypted content.

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