Qbot — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 6fb3d68ea64e29b3…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

25.5 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 14.0300
MD5: bfbefd0c2003da4eaca02b8500f12cd5 SHA-1: 07e5796a4fdc3fc5b5e608020857c1d9f85bfa62 SHA-256: 6fb3d68ea64e29b3304a3885fb1ef3b3fffa27b2ce89ad40afcdda9572d8dcfe
290 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Qbot · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically using dangerous functions like FORMULA.FILL, REGISTER, and EXEC. The macros are designed to download a file from 'vermapaints.com/pic.gif' and execute it using 'rundll32'. This behavior is consistent with Qbot droppers, which often use macro-enabled documents to fetch and run secondary payloads.

Heuristics 7

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 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.FILL, REGISTER, EXEC, HALT 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.Dropper.QbotDocu12020-9818439-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Dropper.QbotDocu12020-9818439-0
  • 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 2 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://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

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
787df0308ba2a7ca973f9172a71b60fafbe85806445a3ba4597a289666bacac8		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 4518 bytes

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