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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 618137f139d5d062…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

331.0 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 675b1cd1f321c3930509b1034cf62f96 SHA-1: cb7c52cce50dcc686ecd4a1f7cebbee13937f59e SHA-256: 618137f139d5d062f08d6b64bf3d86e5527716c16d47d1431f3ccd80335ef4c2
242 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros that are configured to auto-execute upon opening. These macros utilize the RUN and CALL functions to execute code and reference external URLs, specifically 'https://ctxpress.com/ds/261120.gif'. The presence of ShellExecute API calls and the use of dangerous formula APIs like RUN indicate an attempt to download and execute a secondary payload. The macro code also constructs a complex CALL command which likely initiates the execution of the downloaded payload.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • ClamAV: Doc.Downloader.Docusign0521-9864805-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Downloader.Docusign0521-9864805-0
  • Reference to ShellExecute API high SC_STR_SHELLEXEC
    Reference to ShellExecute API
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.
  • 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 https://ctxpress.com/ds/261120.gif
    • https://ctxpress.com/ds/261120.gif�

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
aa837a287543a9593dc9ad53c5a1043539349d9d7158b9d02f92e2bb7330dc0f
xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6677 bytes