Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 7178c26181cb7ed9…

MALICIOUS

PDF

927.0 KB Created: 2012-07-05 00:27:01 +03:00 Authoring application: Microsoft® Office Word 2007 First seen: 2015-09-19
MD5: 2e9c342af4e6d07f060b343c369d2190 SHA-1: 9f6f744d6c8730ae7aff2a6a5bff77ec5fea126a SHA-256: 7178c26181cb7ed9167fe47780d45b489f7d3f34849eb919aa1584126462b00b
636 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.007 JavaScript T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment

This PDF file contains embedded JavaScript that leverages a launch action to execute cmd.exe. The script attempts to export a data object named '12-83-1-PB.pdf', which is also detected as an embedded PE payload. This indicates a clear attempt to trick the user into opening a malicious executable disguised as a document, likely leading to further infection.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9965

Heuristics 14

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • TrueType bitmap font + active content — CVE-2023-26369 related high CVE related PDF_CVE_2023_26369_RELATED
    PDF embeds a TrueType font with bitmap tables (EBDT/sbix/CBDT) alongside exploit delivery indicators — CVE-2023-26369 exploits the sfac_GetSbitBitmap function in Adobe's libCoolType for arbitrary code execution. This CVE was actively exploited in the wild, but this rule does not validate the malformed EBLC/EBDT primitive.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\12-83-1-PB.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • JavaScript action low 2 related findings PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • PDF JavaScript exploit cluster critical PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER
    PDF combines an executable JavaScript/action surface with exploit staging indicators such as eval/unescape/fromCharCode, XFA script content, or a related CVE pattern. Benign form JavaScript remains low-severity, but this correlated cluster is high-confidence malicious behavior.
  • Embedded JS stream low PDF_JS
    PDF references a /JS stream. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • 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://ocsp.verisign.com0 In extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/CSPCA.crl0HIn extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off0006fc69.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/pki/certs/CSPCA.crt0In extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off0006fc69.bin)
    • http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/tspca.crl0HIn extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off0006fc69.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/pki/certs/tspca.crt0In extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off0006fc69.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typographyIn extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off0006fc69.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfontshttp://fontfabrik.comYouIn extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off0007c560.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/default.aspxIn extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off0007c560.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfontshttp://www.munchfonts.comYouIn extracted file (font_02_sfnt_off000904a9.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typography/0In extracted file (font_02_sfnt_off000904a9.bin)
    • http://www.monotype.com/html/mtname/ms_symbol.htmlhttp://www.monotype.com/html/mtname/ms_welcome.htmlNOTIFICATIONIn extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://www.monotype.com/html/type/license.htmlIn extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://crl.verisign.com/ThawteTimestampingCA.crl0In extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://crl.verisign.com/tss-ca.crl0In extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/CodeSignPCA2.crl0OIn extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/pki/certs/CodeSignPCA2.crt0In extracted file (font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfontshttp://www.fonts.comYouIn extracted file (font_05_sfnt_off000ac318.bin)

Extracted artifacts 9

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
12-83-1-PB.pdf pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 991 at offset 0xDE719 79623 bytes
SHA-256: d7cee96e97cb820760dcd3bf168664223d913f75bd7ef2178b4d545ceb0f5231
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-6360730-0
Obfuscation or payload: likely
actual_type=PE; declared_or_context_type=PDF; filename=12-83-1-PB.pdf; kind=pdf-embedded-file
javascript_obj0992_000.js pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 992 at offset 0xE7635 59 bytes
SHA-256: 3a05156e1b22e670b068ff066be447bd15ad9e0ebed54b716fc754beab383c27
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
this.exportDataObject({ cName: "12-83-1-PB", nLaunch: 0 });
font_00_sfnt_off0006fc69.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x6FC69 190940 bytes
SHA-256: f473d187b10a13e828d03c92962a993fdd5846b68c58aa8fa6e964de27256ac3
font_01_sfnt_off0007c560.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x7C560 174756 bytes
SHA-256: 03b0b4877656af6e1dc80c794684511add73066f4d11fc087f18f992272d9eff
font_02_sfnt_off000904a9.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x904A9 55492 bytes
SHA-256: 3750a0cf4ea6de5eee58d3b3824cbd2479312ebfdcc957adaa6c4ff30caab309
font_03_sfnt_off00096627.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x96627 215732 bytes
SHA-256: da198d1dca1ed9c7fe5eb15b3fe1ae459d30eaf4ee161880f2a9db6d9f081acf
font_04_sfnt_off000a7d3a.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0xA7D3A 29788 bytes
SHA-256: 0581d7e349f2c04df8d99f789981cc33711a8caeddfc17d3acfa7817ebcbd585
font_05_sfnt_off000ac318.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0xAC318 249324 bytes
SHA-256: c5bb98643269a5ee472bd1b5dfbe8128053d3e04600fd7568b43edccbd778f63
font_06_sfnt_off000c63b5.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0xC63B5 165836 bytes
SHA-256: 193f08202ed00edcd6b68bdd34b63914c25b2b9648edf428c16880bbbc332232