Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 49dbea6cd5a07d7d…

MALICIOUS

PDF

16.7 KB
MD5: 671256a0a59716d646ce68675cdb4bbc SHA-1: b85ce83c3d09f092cbf6d55b89d03c7fe78e980b SHA-256: 49dbea6cd5a07d7d6d20ea4d70bab3dba4e319317df864c1b7a05026fda968dd
234 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 JavaScript/JScript T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF document contains embedded JavaScript that is heavily obfuscated and uses techniques like String.fromCharCode with hex decoding to hide its payload. The primary function appears to be downloading and executing a second-stage payload, as indicated by the 'Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper' heuristic. The exploit targets the Collab.collectEmailInfo method, specifically referencing CVE-2007-5659. No document body text was available for analysis, but the script behavior and exploit target are clear indicators of malicious intent.

Heuristics 9

  • Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 critical CVE exact CVE_2007_5659
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 is a buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long argument or heap-sprayed message field passed to Collab.collectEmailInfo(). Part of a series of Acrobat JS API exploits. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901
  • Annotation subject callee-key hex JavaScript stager high PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_CALLEE_HEX_STAGER
    PDF JavaScript uses syncAnnotScan()/getAnnots() to read an indirect annotation /Subject stream, percent-decodes it through marker replacement, then uses a callee.toString()-derived key to decode and eval the final exploit stage.
  • Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper high PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER
    PDF JavaScript shows 4 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, hex_codec_loop, incremental_eval_build, repeated_pluginschk. This is strongly consistent with pre-2011 Adobe Reader PDF droppers — OpenAction JS reads encoded data from annotation subjects, decodes it through one or more hex / base-N loops, and invokes eval indirectly (method name built one character at a time). The actual CVE is hidden in the final decoded layer and is not visible via static analysis.
  • 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.
  • String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE
    String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • 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 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0009_000.js
4718a27c2224fc36bf24f8e8e04598f1ad78adce4401c7be2708318738a6983d
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 9 at offset 0x4077 469 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
annotation_subject_callee_hex_stage_000.js
138a86ee1790bad3cdd4a5be8005eb79366ba06d6b200696a9e153d2eea4c4e1
deobfuscated-js annotation-subject callee-key decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1A3F 5250 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 5 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
deobfuscated.js
5e0fcc966ecbf151bcaaae4161f31db0d09f66d692c032cd033455be96c5b1c8
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 140975 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 10 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 3 long base64-like blob(s).