Malicious Office (OOXML) / .DOC — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 60d8a041713ba5c3…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .DOC

2.24 MB Created: 2022-08-11 15:15:00 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Office Word 14.0000 First seen: 2022-08-11
MD5: 759ff0b5914a5b568a74149978320f5a SHA-1: 3b6d301c6d5472b768cc70c6dd68f6b3b932a917 SHA-256: 60d8a041713ba5c32b409dc40e868935246dc58be6d67e6e5fd48ce462479f54
302 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1140 Deobfuscate or Obfuscate Execution Flow

The sample is an OOXML document containing a VBA project with a renamed VBA project part. It features a Document_Open macro that utilizes GetObject and CallByName, indicative of a shellcode loader. The macro reads configuration from reversed document properties and uses VirtualProtect to execute shellcode in memory, a common technique for downloading and running second-stage payloads. The document body explicitly instructs the user to 'Enable editing' and 'Enable content', a typical lure for macro-based malware.

Heuristics 9

  • VBA property-stored shellcode loader critical OLE_VBA_PROPERTY_SHELLCODE_LOADER
    VBA auto-exec macro takes the address (VarPtr) of a byte buffer decoded from a document property, marks memory executable (VirtualProtect/VirtualAlloc), and transfers control through a callback API (e.g. SetTimer/EnumWindows). The payload is hidden in the document properties rather than the macro source — the SVCReady loader pattern, a native shellcode runner rather than a parser CVE.
  • VBA project part renamed to evade filename detection high OOXML_VBA_PROJECT_RENAMED
    The VBA project is bound through the OOXML relationship/content type but its part is not named vbaProject.bin. Legitimate Office producers always emit vbaProject.bin; renaming it hides the macros from path-only scanners (observed in the SVCReady loader).
  • Document_Open macro high OLE_VBA_DOCOPEN
    Document_Open macro
  • GetObject call high OLE_VBA_GETOBJ
    GetObject call
  • CallByName call high OLE_VBA_CALLBYNAME
    CallByName call
  • VBA reads reversed config from document properties high OLE_VBA_REVERSED_DOCPROP_CONFIG
    VBA applies StrReverse to values read from the document's custom/built-in properties. Storing reversed configuration (URLs, CLSIDs, env-var names, payload names) in document properties keeps indicators out of the macro source — an obfuscation technique used by the SVCReady loader.
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains a VBA project — VBA macros present (project part renamed away from vbaProject.bin: word/rTMAgPkvEJ.bin)
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings
  • 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://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingCanvas
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/math
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingDrawing
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/wordprocessingDrawing
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordml
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingGroup
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingInk
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2006/wordml
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingShape

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
0209a331be690acbb27b78c31ff34a6d04a48233af016c9da8e96e9e96821c71
vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 19784 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
6da3fc83453ecf17f7f0d8f50cab82a123d1640c71db154ac6a4f2cf5c4c6410
vba-project OOXML VBA project: word/rTMAgPkvEJ.bin 14848 bytes