Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 5aa5ea6ecacdd197…

MALICIOUS

PDF

2.1 KB
MD5: 2f151aa87643d153278683139317a33c SHA-1: 57cdb2a50ade84ac10bfdc1627573a005510e368 SHA-256: 5aa5ea6ecacdd197a465d6777102a3db055a439dc7131a73ad175bced79b2247
196 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.007 JavaScript T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment

The PDF file contains obfuscated JavaScript, indicated by multiple heuristic firings including PDF_JAVASCRIPT, PDF_JS, PDF_EVAL, and PDF_UNESCAPE. The script uses `eval()` and `unescape()` to decode and execute a payload, likely to download and run a second-stage malicious file. The ML classifier strongly flags this PDF as malicious. No specific family could be identified due to the generic nature of the exploit and obfuscation.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 7

  • 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.
  • 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)
  • 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 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj111611_000.js
9864171cc4152f5d3e5671809dd40cebe1cf9319d0b8bfb0abd003cff50482db
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 111611 at offset 0x761 332 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 3 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).