Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 56a8c617c05279b4…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

265.3 KB Created: 2021-08-16 09:36:27 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 12.0000
MD5: 3c720e2a319a2e4a854d469147d9de5d SHA-1: 246023c3d495754f7fe63337203400b1bacbffca SHA-256: 56a8c617c05279b4baf2c15fce7c9538db3d2779411210d33393f2c9706a7d95
218 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.001 PowerShell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) is malicious. It contains an Auto_Open macro that uses dangerous functions like FOPEN, FWRITE, and EXEC. The macro attempts to write a script to 'C:\ProgramData\ZFJPNq.sct' and then execute it. The external hyperlink to 'http://www.shipco.com/ecommerce/sch/scheduleindex.php' is likely used for downloading the payload.

Heuristics 7

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE, EXEC, HALT critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • 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
  • External hyperlinks (1) low OOXML_EXTERNAL_HYPERLINKS
    Document contains 1 external hyperlink — clickable URLs are stored as external relationships. First target: http://www.shipco.com/ecommerce/sch/scheduleindex.php
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • Embedded URL info EMBEDDED_URL
    One or more URLs were extracted from the document. The URL itself is not a detection — see the per-URL labels for which channel (macro, JS, link annotation, document body, ...) reached each URL.
    URL http://www.shipco.com/ecommerce/sch/scheduleindex.php
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
8f6eb4a315e4ccafdcdddb37c1ccd97cafec6c33917a8448f2ed8bacbed37f37		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1601160 bytes

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