Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 54cfefccacc0a942…

MALICIOUS

PDF

15.2 KB
MD5: ad72679f7e383f006a141e1340f473cf SHA-1: 69fd24aa2677f5116a32027fbed55b49a8dc96b7 SHA-256: 54cfefccacc0a942980546c7d3578d2ffe2e36878d145ee9e0a6458bfaf46e22
194 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF document contains heavily obfuscated JavaScript, identified as a multi-stage dropper. The primary exploit leveraged is CVE-2007-5659, specifically targeting the Collab.collectEmailInfo function. The deobfuscation process revealed layered obfuscation techniques including annotation-subject staging, hex-codec loops, and incremental eval builds. The ultimate goal of the script is to download and execute a second-stage payload, though the specific payload and its destination could not be fully resolved due to the obfuscation.

Heuristics 8

  • 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 static deobfuscation)
  • 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 5 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, hex_codec_loop, hex_dashed_payload, 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_obj0005_000.js
4718a27c2224fc36bf24f8e8e04598f1ad78adce4401c7be2708318738a6983d
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 5 at offset 0x148 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
31ef4711e6fe0dfbd4fd17e00d3fae013fe99ff26e3204939fc9696d3a91d0bb
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1993 12118 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
deobfuscated.js
5e9976a31a8367f270044a70725a81fdd5c1e9ed4f1505664ff0fe64e97d1dbd
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 118230 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 9 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 2 long base64-like blob(s).