Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 59472c5a9d2bc093…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-27 11:45:23 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: c77d20faadd468c8512fb30d826fc81d SHA-1: 42ad71928a7c3469da61eabab3c6c6f5a4326abc SHA-256: 59472c5a9d2bc09391e52112fb80e14fada27197cf5f88fb040ae3afb724a850
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a critical indicator of malicious intent. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN suggests the macro is designed to execute arbitrary code. While the exact payload is not discernible from the provided evidence, the Auto_Open function is a common technique for initial execution of malware.

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.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
a5e06397da42a68892f18466bcefb783c400c1e881f78369aaa2d082d89d3229		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6573 bytes

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