Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 5bcf0edb7e727b50…

MALICIOUS

PDF

3.9 KB
MD5: 20ec44031ed19edfce5269d606e069e9 SHA-1: b079559c2d704e03436ef34fe62ae6b2a7c3f2f2 SHA-256: 5bcf0edb7e727b50c1f453453fcdb046e708865ffea08d569a4f81feea34a7d1
202 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The PDF sample contains embedded JavaScript and utilizes various decoding filters (ASCIIHexDecode, ASCII85Decode) and String.fromCharCode, indicating an attempt to obfuscate malicious code. Heuristics and ML classification strongly suggest this is a PDF exploit designed to execute arbitrary code, likely downloading a second-stage payload. The ClamAV detection further confirms its malicious nature.

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.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • 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)
  • ASCII85Decode filter (with exploit indicators) low PDF_FILTER_85
    ASCII85 encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — uncommon outside of obfuscation