Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 49ae8219ca6c316b…

MALICIOUS

PDF

4.8 KB
MD5: b369870ec2d17d4a997dbd10b2e76c21 SHA-1: c98516ab59fa20327976b5e0f7435035484ff038 SHA-256: 49ae8219ca6c316bc264c073f71db82d593a44d21f327443258f49d9a1e58af2
226 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.001 PowerShell

The sample is a PDF file that exploits CVE-2010-0188, a vulnerability in Adobe Reader related to XFA forms and TIFF images. This exploit is designed to allow arbitrary code execution. The ClamAV detection 'Pdf.Exploit.Pidief-3' further confirms its malicious nature. The embedded artifact suggests it's a dropper for a secondary payload.

Heuristics 8

  • Adobe Reader LibTIFF XFA image exploit — CVE-2010-0188 critical CVE likely CVE_2010_0188
    PDF contains XFA image data with an inline crafted TIFF payload and shellcode/delivery markers. This is the data-bound variant of the CVE-2010-0188 Adobe Reader LibTIFF/XFA exploit shape.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Pidief-3 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Pidief-3
  • 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.
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • ASCII85Decode filter (with exploit indicators) low PDF_FILTER_85
    ASCII85 encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — uncommon outside of obfuscation
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0001.bin
c718a2129d63718de993ad96ea7b4b15dd2499b614de2281baebd0bc084f4417
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 1 at offset 0x7A 13441 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Pidief-3
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).