Malicious RTF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 488eb3d324698a40…

MALICIOUS

RTF

1.78 MB Authoring application: Riched20 6.3.9600 First seen: 2018-06-14
MD5: 207c192eabd21e70a78d2b1d520be0d0 SHA-1: e0c658e8650ca759fc385de44652948a7d9c9564 SHA-256: 488eb3d324698a40a99f51905e4a3d9b35e7ee8e370cdf287b4d9c42c86d151e
500 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The RTF file contains embedded OLE objects, specifically exploiting the Equation Editor vulnerability (CVE-2017-11882). This vulnerability allows for arbitrary code execution when the embedded object is activated. The presence of PE headers within the hex-encoded data further suggests a malicious payload is hidden within the object. The file is classified as malicious due to this exploit.

Heuristics 12

  • Equation Editor CLSID critical CVE likely RTF_EQUATION_EDITOR
    Equation Editor OLE CLSID found inside an OLE object — exploited by CVE-2017-11882 / CVE-2018-0802 / CVE-2018-0798
  • CVE-2017-11882 — Equation Editor FONT record overflow critical CVE likely CVE_2017_11882
    Equation Editor MTEF contains an overlong FONT typeface field, the vulnerable copy primitive for CVE-2017-11882. This is stronger evidence than the Equation Editor CLSID alone because it identifies the malformed record that drives code execution in EQNEDT32.EXE.
  • Composite Moniker in RTF OLE object high CVE related RTF_COMPOSITE_MONIKER_RELATED
    RTF contains Composite Moniker CLSID in OLE object context, but no nearby scriptlet/SCT payload was confirmed. Treat as related moniker attack-surface evidence rather than proof of CVE-2017-8570 exploitation.
  • ClamAV: Rtf.Exploit.CVE_2017_11882-6584355-1 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Rtf.Exploit.CVE_2017_11882-6584355-1
  • PE header (with DOS stub) in hex data critical RTF_MZ_HEX
    Hex-encoded PE (MZ + DOS stub) found inside RTF — likely an embedded executable payload
  • \objupdate forces OLE activation high RTF_OBJUPDATE
    RTF contains \objupdate — forces automatic OLE object instantiation when the document is opened, bypassing user interaction. Almost exclusively seen in Equation Editor exploit documents.
  • Package object class high RTF_OBJCLASS_PACKAGE
    OLE Package object — can wrap arbitrary files
  • Large hex data blocks in OLE object high RTF_EXCESSIVE_HEX
    RTF contains ~1847KB of hex-encoded data inside \objdata sections — may hide a payload
  • Suspicious extracted artifact high 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.
  • OLE object data medium RTF_OBJDATA
    RTF contains 3 \objdata section(s) — embedded OLE objects
  • Embedded OLE object medium RTF_OBJEMB
    RTF contains \objemb — embedded OLE object
  • OlePres presentation stream in RTF OLE object medium RTF_OLEPRES_STREAM
    RTF contains an embedded OLE object with an OlePres presentation stream. OlePres is an OLE presentation marker and is not enough on its own to identify CVE-2025-21298.

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
objdata_00_off000000ef.bin rtf-objdata-decoded RTF \objdata at offset 0xEF 923861 bytes
SHA-256: 45b3591c6e461133f20815f8bcf1ce0e000641b163d6d263480e912057baf495
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact entropy is 7.98, consistent with packed or encrypted content.
objdata_01_off001c32e8.bin rtf-objdata-decoded RTF \objdata at offset 0x1C32E8 3980 bytes
SHA-256: c5a7edf5d248b3aa7d0621b8d335ea0b8d2ab8ee4bedd26a6e101f99abd571e1
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Static shellcode analysis recovered command string(s): cmd.exe /c%tmp%\pass.exe &��D$,f-Q���%
objdata_02_off001c552e.bin rtf-objdata-decoded RTF \objdata at offset 0x1C552E 3546 bytes
SHA-256: 216dd69075010ff96ea32db2c7210efb41a98721777ba82b99bd0c83fcbb8437
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Static shellcode analysis recovered command string(s): cmd.exe /c%tmp%\pass.exe A C