PDF malware analysis — malicious · 55215e5c4bf1ba79

MALICIOUS

PDF

3.6 KB

MD5: f14844d0cdbf6741c0ae3fce003413f7 SHA-1: d6c49a2d229b3b4c469f06a3eb8ed042baaf78d6 SHA-256: 55215e5c4bf1ba79afbc24587d6a51a252259ba130f38966e3b87c53ff0c4b6d

456 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK

T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.005 Visual Basic

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript that utilizes eval() and unescape() functions, indicative of obfuscation. The script is designed to download and execute a second-stage payload, as evidenced by the PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND heuristic which reconstructs the command: "cmd.exe /c echo Dim BinaryStream > vbs1.vbs && echo Set BinaryStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream". This chain of commands suggests a dropper mechanism, likely leveraging CVE-2010-1240 to achieve execution. The ML classifier also strongly flags this PDF as malicious.

Machine Learning

Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 12

Adobe Reader Launch action VBS dropper command chain critical CVE likely CVE_2010_1240_LAUNCH_VBS_DROPPER

PDF uses a CVE-2010-1240-style Launch action: cmd.exe is invoked from /Launch and builds a VBS stage that uses ADODB.Stream, MSXML2.XMLHTTP, or FileSystemObject to write or execute a 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
PDF JavaScript exploit cluster critical PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER

PDF combines an executable JavaScript/action surface with exploit staging indicators such as eval/unescape/fromCharCode, XFA script content, or a related CVE pattern. Benign form JavaScript remains low-severity, but this correlated cluster is high-confidence malicious behavior.
/Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND

PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/c echo Dim BinaryStream > vbs1.vbs && echo Set BinaryStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
eval() call high PDF_EVAL

eval() found — commonly used for obfuscated exploit execution (matched inside decoded stream)
unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE

unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
Embedded script payload in PDF stream high PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD

PDF stream bytes contain script execution markers such as ActiveXObject/CreateObject, WScript.Shell, PowerShell, or shell-exec primitives. This is stronger than ordinary PDF JavaScript because it indicates a staged external script payload hidden in stream bytes.
PDF JavaScript WScript downloader high PDF_JS_WSCRIPT_DOWNLOADER

Decoded PDF JavaScript reconstructs a Windows Script Host COM downloader using WScript.CreateObject plus XMLHTTP/ADODB.Stream style download, write, and run behavior. This is commodity payload delivery rather than a specific PDF parser CVE trigger.
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)
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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

Filename	Kind	Source	Size
`javascript_obj111611_000.js` `9864171cc4152f5d3e5671809dd40cebe1cf9319d0b8bfb0abd003cff50482db`	pdf-javascript-stream	PDF /JS object 111611 at offset 0x771	332 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 3 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
`embedded_pdf_script_000008da.bin` `40abd21cc16d7f47deccc3a181fad013ee9391fed16bacfc36cd3459490f7ecc`	pdf-embedded-script	PDF decompressed stream script payload at offset 0x8DA	90 bytes

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