PDF malware analysis — malicious · 54d2501f04cf0f17

MALICIOUS

PDF

35.0 KB Created: 2009-08-30 00:20:17 UTC Authoring application: AdobePS5.dll Version 5.2.2 (via Mac OS X 10.5.8 Quartz PDFContext)

MD5: 68634b586eac96051a16e198b2cfe9b5 SHA-1: f471f045c15115773f5dbf0c53fc42e599ac036f SHA-256: 54d2501f04cf0f171bc0fba3ac00f3e0caf68376da4e92c71c80cc806c2965cb

484 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK

T1204.002 Malicious File T1566.002 Spearphishing Attachment T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.001 User Execution: Malicious Link T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information

The PDF file contains a JavaScript action that triggers a launch action, which in turn executes cmd.exe. This cmd.exe command is designed to execute an embedded Windows executable payload disguised as 'form.pdf'. The embedded artifact was detected by ClamAV as Win.Trojan.ShellcodeReverseTcp-1, indicating a malicious payload. The PDF structure and embedded executable strongly suggest a delivery mechanism for malware.

Heuristics 11

Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240

PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH

PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD

PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
/Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND

PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\form.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH

An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION

ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV

ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
/Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS

PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
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.
Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED

PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

Filename	Kind	Source	Size
`form.pdf` `f37feefd074175ccad1f7f9e056e576fdfac50268c3fca0fe9cfe0dfe5fcb631`	pdf-embedded-file	PDF EmbeddedFile object 21 at offset 0x3B9E	37888 bytes
Detection ClamAV: Win.Trojan.ShellcodeReverseTcp-1 Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
`javascript_obj0022_000.js` `eff4a0943aaff2d99cb5c8666337775c91d4d5f687782df94d2c5fc77becde7f`	pdf-javascript-stream	PDF /JS object 22 at offset 0x8812	53 bytes
`icc_00_off000002d6.icc` `2b3aa1645779a9e634744faf9b01e9102b0c9b88fd6deced7934df86b949af7e`	pdf-icc-profile	PDF ICC profile at offset 0x2D6	3144 bytes

Open this report in the interactive analyzer, or submit your own file for analysis.