Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSX malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 48cc615e61f1b189…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSX

236.1 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-04-28
MD5: a420522b7dc15a35d5ee8a41cbb88839 SHA-1: 36fae6a95b6e1185cdc2643680be64d4bfc1a968 SHA-256: 48cc615e61f1b189a73c4b8dd1dc3148b9c5ec317bdfc77645f4d88512c38688
180 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

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

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, identified by the OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET heuristic. These macros leverage WinAPI functions such as CreateDirectoryA and Kernel32, as indicated by the OOXML_XLM_BINARY_WINAPI_STRINGS heuristic. The script attempts to download payloads from 'liketickets.com' and 'auto95.net' to local paths like 'C:\Vantastik\Yhsra.ooocxx', suggesting a downloader functionality. The ClamAV detection further confirms its malicious nature, specifically identifying it as an Emotet variant.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 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. The macro sheet is stored as XLSB/BIFF12 binary content, which many XML-only OOXML scanners miss.
  • Binary XLM macro sheet with WinAPI/download strings critical OOXML_XLM_BINARY_WINAPI_STRINGS
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet is stored as BIFF12/XLSB binary data and contains Win32 download or process-execution API strings such as URLDownloadToFileA, ShellExecuteA, or CreateDirectoryA. These strings are high-signal in XLM macro sheets and catch payload-download macros that XML-formula scanners cannot parse.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Emotet-OOXML_XL-af43432fbcb8603c-9980048-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet-OOXML_XL-af43432fbcb8603c-9980048-0

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.bin
f9ecd75a4ef00501f90e1d2a53644d2d8f7d2a7c02dc342dafa4abb13e82d5d1		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.bin 2898 bytes

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