Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSX — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 49e315aa89bf1097…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSX

260.2 KB Created: 2021-04-08 09:04:01 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 80fdec003c86c583473a9fbbabf40d2f SHA-1: 991940040a50a0be56572e4a9ab73d6d4dbab050 SHA-256: 49e315aa89bf10972518c3069a767c869bbf7027c298afd11ab21040285b3f9e
120 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File

The file is an Excel 4.0 macro sheet, identified by the OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET heuristic. The OOXML_XLM_REASSEMBLED_PAYLOAD heuristic indicates that the macro sheet contains reassembled formulas that likely execute a command. The reconstructed command appears to be 'Kernel32WinExecJCJ C:\ C:\', which suggests an attempt to execute a malicious payload. The macro sheet content is heavily obfuscated, but the presence of CHAR() and split formulas points to a downloader or dropper functionality.

Heuristics 2

  • 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.
  • XLM payload reassembled from CHAR()/split formulas critical OOXML_XLM_REASSEMBLED_PAYLOAD
    An Excel 4.0 macro sheet builds its payload inside the formula token stream by concatenating per-character CHAR() calls and string fragments, so no WinAPI name, shell command, or URL is ever contiguous in the .bin for a literal-bytes scan to find. Reassembling the formulas recovered download/execute API names, LOLBin commands (regsvr32/rundll32/mshta/wmic/powershell), or a payload URL — the de-obfuscated download-and-run kill chain.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.bin
335f8ebeb10e6ffd6961f8b800103c541aa2c625a7025ca5fdcffdad14b97dd6
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.bin 1963 bytes