Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 593b3e8f2ba74222…

MALICIOUS

PDF

31.7 KB Created: 2018-06-11 08:55:35 -04:00 Authoring application: wkhtmltopdf 0.12.4 (via Qt 4.8.7) First seen: 2020-09-24
MD5: ec63678f257372a84f90473210bc29cc SHA-1: c80db8b05c5b630904966d1a3fb128fd90431a47 SHA-256: 593b3e8f2ba74222d79a8dd680d1189b65fef1f0bd3442f2b7b7a2ae3be9c6b0
130 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF file contains embedded URLs that point to a domain associated with malicious activity. The ML classifier also flagged this PDF as malicious. The presence of a 'download button' heuristic suggests a social engineering lure to trick the user into downloading a payload. No scripts were extracted from this sample, limiting further analysis of its execution behavior.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9515

Heuristics 4

  • Fake 'free download' SEO-poisoning PDF critical PDF_SEO_FAKE_DOWNLOAD
    The ML classifier flagged this PDF AND it carries a visual download/call-to-action lure AND an off-domain server-side download-gateway link whose query string names a document payload. This three-signal conjunction is the fake-document / 'free PDF download' SEO-poisoning delivery pattern: the page is padded with benign decoy links to dilute classifier scores while funnelling the victim through the gateway to malware/scareware. Acting only on the conjunction keeps benign download-bearing PDFs from being misflagged.
  • PDF carries a PHP-gateway SEO-spam PDF link farm medium PDF_SEO_PHP_GATEWAY_LINK_FARM
    PDF contains four or more clickable links whose target is a `.php` gateway with a multi-word search-PHRASE document slug embedded after it (e.g. 'index.php?.../binary+options+trading+nz.pdf' or 'pdf.php/cialis-dosage-side-effects.pdf'). Legitimate PHP-served documents use a filename or numeric id, not a search-query phrase, so this is the generated SEO link-farm shape — pharma / binary-options / 'free download' spam that ranks for queries and routes users into payload/redirect chains. The PDF itself carries no exploit — the risk is the linked destinations.
  • Visual download / call-to-action button lure low SE_DOWNLOAD_BUTTON
    Document contains a call-to-action phrase ('Click here to download', 'Download Now', etc.) — low-signal unless other findings point to a malicious workflow
  • 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://uncpbisdegree.com/download3.php?q=the-short-happy-life-of-francis-macomber.pdf In PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/download4.php?q=the-short-happy-life-of-francis-macomber.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=The+Short+Happy+Life+of+Francis+MacomberIn PDF document text
    • https://www.majortests.com/topics/Short-Argumentative-Essay-Example.htmlIn PDF document text
    • http://www.hemingwayhome.com/books/In PDF document text
    • http://www.notablebiographies.com/He-Ho/Hemingway-Ernest.htmlIn PDF document text
    • http://www.notablebiographies.com/He-Ho/index.htmlIn PDF document text
    • http://esl-bits.net/ESL.English.Listening.Short.Stories/ESL.Listening.Short.Stories.htmlIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/shriramacharitamanas-the-holy-sundarakanda-sriramacaritamanasa-pavana-pavitra-sundarakanda.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://riverside-resort.net/1/vauxhall-cd30-guide.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/study-guide-on-pastor-adie.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/the-american-heiress.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/studens-workbook-template.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://riverside-resort.net/1/worksheet-light-answer-the-questions-clearly-and.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://riverside-resort.net/1/workshop-manual-for-nissan-hardbody-double-cab.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/tchaikovsky-through-others-eyes.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/teaching-pronunciation-a-course-book-and-reference-guide.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/system-impact-factor.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://www.ascendercorp.com/In PDF document text
    • http://www.ascendercorp.com/typedesigners.htmlIn PDF document text
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Short_Happy_Life_of_Francis_MacomberIn PDF document text
    • https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Short-Happy-Life-of-Francis-MacomberIn PDF document text
    • https://www.gradesaver.com/complete-short-stories-of-ernest-hemingway/study-guide/summary-the-short-happy-life-of-francis-macomberIn PDF document text
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Macomber_AffairIn PDF document text
    • https://www.gradesaver.com/complete-short-stories-of-ernest-hemingway/study-guide/themesIn PDF document text
    • https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/hemingways-short-stories/summary-and-analysis/a-way-youll-never-beIn PDF document text
    • https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/hemingways-short-stories/about-hemingways-short-storiesIn PDF document text
    • https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/hemingways-short-stories/summary-and-analysis/hills-like-white-elephantsIn PDF document text
    • http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_U.htmlIn PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839&CLCID=0409In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=246338&CLCID=0409In PDF document text
    • https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=868922In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=286759&CLCID=409In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=617297In PDF document text
    • https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Licensing/LiberationFontLicenseIn PDF document text

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
font_00_sfnt_off000041eb.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x41EB 10220 bytes
SHA-256: f4e559446e96e820b544b2032d265e10a1286af04bfcbc52e1c690f02c1fc640
font_01_sfnt_off00006261.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x6261 6920 bytes
SHA-256: 45525ea1bb9f63df29302e38ed04d870877d84262a878a6ffa1b37bd77736068