IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 5bfb080c5ba30910…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

325.4 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 9a6bae9cbd260570409fcf98d7f545db SHA-1: 66c1e3d6e3916590c50943a40fa8b9f5f56725a0 SHA-256: 5bfb080c5ba3091013930b85725c34fa95a231fe8f8dda160e882524e65d193e
270 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The sample is an XLSM file containing Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous functions like EXEC and REGISTER to download and execute a second-stage payload from the provided URLs. The ClamAV detection and the presence of multiple suspicious URLs strongly indicate a downloader functionality, consistent with the IcedID family.

Heuristics 7

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (4 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA, REGISTER, GOTO, EXEC, HALT critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 4 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://45.67.230.109/
    • http://185.212.129.178/
    • http://45.90.59.72/
    • http://45.67.230.109/44300,5396033565.dat
    • http://185.212.129.178/44300,5396033565.dat
    • http://45.90.59.72/44300,5396033565.dat
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
ab7594a09a662f39c57268a5b7bf670113a98d618fbc91886d3f889e06e535bd		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 4091 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
39798259f03cd9672f45bba1a0c51b94f7031e1df15836708059f64e9c8de85c		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1898 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_02.xml
e9ede02a3b195b353ba578d091c9e9fdf44e02d22a62334c471770c4e6d3eebe		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet3.xml 1880 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_03.xml
145b3c5862c9bdc90f5655a09e2ac31ff5670b02c5e78c573e1be59397d1de5d		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet4.xml 1916 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).

Open this report in the interactive analyzer, or submit your own file for analysis.