Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 6e708b06f5eb6a02…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

90.2 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-02-24
MD5: d801bda7cc90690d5b72c55756e549fd SHA-1: 5b214041019978f6bd832b879ed40b5a2b2491fb SHA-256: 6e708b06f5eb6a02406429493f2c766fa852f43fb12337244f1f995da002505d
290 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

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

The file is an Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) containing Excel 4.0 macros, which is a strong indicator of Emotet. The macros utilize dangerous XLM formula APIs like FORMULA to download and execute payloads. The document body and heuristics indicate the use of regsvr32.exe to download and run content from several suspicious URLs, a common Emotet delivery technique.

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.EmotetExcel02220-9940032-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.EmotetExcel02220-9940032-0
  • 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://www.ajaxmatters.com/c7g8t/zbBYgukXYxzAF2hZc/
    • http://www.beholdpublications.com/home/BABxyyWZx8Vu/
    • http://explorationit.com/screwing/AxLm/
    • http://donboscoschoolputhuppally.org/wp-content/UuQ7LBsPoGu9Q/
    • http://myclassroomtime.com/mongery/ZlPsROtQiXIujmJmAA/
    • http://www.ajaxmatters.com/c7g8t/zbBYgukXYxzAF
    • 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
fc9253ffcb683b17b2963a329e0d1078315a68ecc8af492238ff27be69741b1f		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 3613 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
6922c877af9b5ffe857609a5d410eac153e8905bd35dfd19cf6ef8e3fb0636e6		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1204 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
60579741b1b65a4181fd818a651bece32da461189f50a30098e233a7c5fed525		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1227 bytes

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