Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 498be4eb4de5cf01…

MALICIOUS

PDF

12.8 KB
MD5: 6eb71a98488b9e835d49df73d405c3bb SHA-1: 47bdc9c3fc33932c1d88cc07c03260247bdd4770 SHA-256: 498be4eb4de5cf0143e14b31f7e96889240e702fcc8fed7e7d4acb14fbbfa808
272 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204 Malicious Link T1059.007 JavaScript

The file is a PDF document that leverages an XFA form to deliver an embedded JavaScript payload. Static analysis identified a critical vulnerability exploit (CVE-2010-0188) targeting Adobe Reader, specifically through the XFA form's image processing. The embedded JavaScript is likely responsible for downloading and executing a second-stage payload, as indicated by the ClamAV detection on an extracted script artifact (Js.Exploit.HTML-28). The presence of an embedded URL further supports the malicious intent.

Heuristics 10

  • Adobe Reader LibTIFF XFA image exploit — CVE-2010-0188 critical CVE likely CVE_2010_0188
    PDF contains the CVE-2010-0188 exploit template: XFA JavaScript heap-spray setup, a generated TIFF image payload, and assignment of that TIFF data to an XFA image field rawValue to trigger Adobe Reader's LibTIFF parser.
  • XFA form contains executable script high CVE related PDF_XFA_SCRIPT
    PDF embeds an XFA form whose dataset contains a <script> or <xfa:script> block — XFA scripting has been the exploit primitive for several Adobe Reader RCEs (CVE-2010-0188 family, CVE-2018-4901, and others). Plain XFA without scripts is far less risky.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • 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.
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • AcroForm button with action trigger low PDF_ACROFORM_BUTTON
    PDF contains a /Btn form field together with a SubmitForm/URI/Launch/JS trigger — this is the building block of fake 'Download' or 'Open' button overlays used in PDF phishing lures
  • 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.xfa.org/schema/xfa-template/2.5/

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_pdf_script_00000374.bin
a69d13d635b9e16d2a70a6f9759bb42bf419ac711219dbc51dd5b655e83abad1
pdf-embedded-script PDF raw stream script payload at offset 0x374 12189 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Js.Exploit.HTML-28
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely