Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 60c9c5995f5e4da7…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

37.4 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-08
MD5: 818179511ee9795113166e3cd7ad397c SHA-1: 8c3110e2fe73f9eb999c9417fc8d1c08a636c218 SHA-256: 60c9c5995f5e4da778b0b92155b0f2502da9dfe6217cd450961bcb220b53599f
290 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1218.010 System Binary Proxy Execution: Regsvr32

The sample is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) that leverages dangerous XLM formula APIs to download and execute a payload. The embedded URLs are used in conjunction with regsvr32.exe to fetch and run a second-stage component, a common Emotet downloader technique. The ClamAV detection also confirms the malicious nature and points to the Emotet family.

Heuristics 7

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 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 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.Emotet03220-9940859-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03220-9940859-0
  • LOLBin token sequence in document text high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Extracted document text contains a Windows script/execution tool name (PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, regsvr32, …) within 220 characters of a dangerous flag, command verb, or URL. This is a visible 'run this' instruction in HTML/PDF/RTF lure bodies, or — in macro-laden Office files — the macro's own string-pool entries appearing adjacent in extracted text.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 5 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://sorathlions.com/tmp/bfJrKD4g0bJL73qw/
    • http://narsanatanaokulu.com/wp-includes/reZNtZ53IH/
    • http://support.techopesolutions.com/gq2z3/yt7TquOtSLXXeade/
    • http://www.invest-moon.com/wp-admin/2PbOcXXyFr4oFoogAA/
    • https://ramijabali.com/licenses/WQu8ZS0qQNGp/
    • http://blog.centerking.top/wp-includes/YvwIBPBq/
    • http://sorathlions.com/t
    • 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 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
f04a70b64ec63683784ca39bae294e6b2c7841eff011398f4b35767fb86e93c1		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 3899 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
ca7fa26ed4d58d3fd46ef9dc8387e336f3ef9d70dc5dd78639bf3c2c5e458528		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1277 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
0b61b2dde0ca331ea31d988c051388a2c4d7c70e05fe1946e85ab2c205e9d956		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1221 bytes

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