Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 496d4d394fd1051c…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

48.5 KB Created: 2012-06-17 06:04:34 First seen: 2019-01-11
MD5: 454713c77424be0ed2c837301ebdcc8f SHA-1: 6edc994b1aa22c080c84f1ff9cb04c5abe16b759 SHA-256: 496d4d394fd1051cb9b5b441991c4ca27b84f6ad3c27dae40db5ade9d48aeedf
200 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file contains Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro, which is a known technique for executing malicious code within older Excel versions. The macro sheet contains references to dangerous functions like RUN and is identified as a legacy Excel formula macro virus, with markers indicating it's part of the 'Poppy' family. The embedded document body text explicitly mentions 'Add New Workbook, Infect It, Save It As Book1.xls', confirming its intent to infect other Excel files and likely spread.

Heuristics 4

  • 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.
  • Legacy Excel formula macro virus marker critical OLE_XLS_FORMULA_MACRO_VIRUS
    Workbook stream contains self-identifying legacy Excel formula macro virus markers. This indicates the document carries formula macro virus content even when no VBA project or modern XLM macro-sheet structure is present.
  • 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 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 26835 bytes
SHA-256: 7ee631aa511de8e40433837f3a1d887070b36eadb94d15b6c206db25f208c190
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  szyfm
' 0085     16 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, hidden -  XL4Popp
' 0018     31 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - _Fill hidden len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x05\x00m\x00m\x00m\x00m\x00'
' 0018     32 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - aiu_bottom len=7 ptgRefErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x06\x00\t\t\t\t'
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 2 Auto_Close len=7 ptgRef3d 10!C4 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d 10!C4 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Bust len=7 ptgRef3d 10!C31 
' 0018     30 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Continue len=7 ptgRef3d 10!C9 
' 0018     81 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Document_array len=8 ptgArrayA  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x01\x00\x00\x08X?\x02'
' 0018     41 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Documents_array len=11 ptgArea3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\n\x00\x00\x00\x0f\x00\x01\x00\x01\x00'
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - FRC len=7 ptgRef3d  XL4Popp!C9 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Hello len=7 ptgRef3d 10!A15 
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - hostfee len=7 ptgRef3d 6!H12 
' 0018     34 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - hraiu_bottom len=7 ptgRefErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x06\x00\n\n\n\n'
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - hvac len=7 ptgRefErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x06\x00\x12\x12\x12\x12'
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - HWSheet len=3 ptgInt 1 
' 0018     28 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MakeIt len=7 ptgRef3d 10!A26 
' 0018     37 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Module.Prix_SMC len=7 ptgNameX  NAMEIDX 16 
' 0018     37 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Module.Prix_SMC len=7 ptgNameX  NAMEIDX 17 
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Morning len=7 ptgRef3d 10!C39 
' 0018     28 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OS len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x00\x00\x05\x80\x05\x80\x05\x80\x05\x80'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PA7 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00\xa3\x02\xa3\x02\xa3\x02\xa3\x02'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PA8 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00\xd8\x02\xd8\x02\xd8\x02\xd8\x02'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PD1 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00S\x05S\x05S\x05S\x05'
' 0018     30 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PE12 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00\xf0\t\xf0\t\xf0\t\xf0\t'
' 0018     30 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PE13 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00\x99\n\x99\n\x99\n\x99\n'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PE6 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00\x0c\t\x0c\t\x0c\t\x0c\t'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PE7 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00E\tE\tE\tE\t'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PE8 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00~\t~\t~\t~\t'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PE9 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING* Remaining, unparsed expression: b'\x02\x00\xb7\t\xb7\t\xb7\t\xb7\t'
' 0018     29 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PH1 len=11 ptgAreaErr3d  *INCOMPLETE FORMULA PARSING
... (truncated)