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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 5ad32c0d74aaa709…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

152.0 KB Created: 2021-01-15 22:22:16 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 08b2ae8dbae927b9f046ce96ea382d25 SHA-1: d221296ef5c99b00d6543809322b59b322eacaf6 SHA-256: 5ad32c0d74aaa70959de570a26e152861ec61dec87216423d17813c78b4bf629
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File

The Excel file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro, which is a critical finding. The macro constructs and executes a PowerShell command to download a file from 'https://tinyurl.com/24l9p9lc' and save it as 'ps.exe'. It then attempts to execute this downloaded payload, indicating a downloader or dropper functionality.

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
6d6d3ae24dcfd71eaa1528c37c2667bde3867ef3eaf0dc4a38d21e88f3aabb81		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 1376 bytes

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