Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 53186fa0a74992c9…

MALICIOUS

PDF

17.9 KB
MD5: 177dd4a7b76186383f753f7b723311d1 SHA-1: 68d913e159d56ee3befd2209f2b6e0c3952d3f52 SHA-256: 53186fa0a74992c93f55df3a104d3b569abc963bc9cb5407f728c55e3590f9c3
134 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF contains obfuscated JavaScript, identified by the 'PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER' heuristic. This script is designed to decode and execute a second-stage payload, likely from an external source. The 'ClamAV_DETECTION' heuristic further confirms its malicious nature, identifying it as 'Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901'. The presence of multiple JavaScript streams and the use of 'String.fromCharCode' with hex decoding indicate a multi-stage attack.

Heuristics 7

  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901
  • 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 0x4539 469 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
2eabff7b8e03515b532c865701310de280785d39b0b87657cbbd2def49e5351d
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1B31 11802 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
deobfuscated.js
a010d8b5496457ccd4494fcc0d88e62baf74294d8725c8cee4c293f9d1eb1f08
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 109300 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 4 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 2 long base64-like blob(s).