Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 739adcebec96be11…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:36:34 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 204b056d9165f9337105a8d24016e5ab SHA-1: 74a3b31f4c494b7b001b7065a48ddaab7a024f5b SHA-256: 739adcebec96be119c0f737b9b3a60cec58f07ae5850235364e522a344ec066a
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file is an Excel document containing Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro. This macro is configured to execute dangerous formula APIs, indicating an intent to run arbitrary code. The presence of the Auto_Open function and the use of risky APIs strongly suggest the execution of a malicious payload.

Heuristics 3

  • 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.
  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
8ec67c21d22b3b1de6e87c5bae0cd464b1cf29b033368ea4bce4d009415fd5df		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6621 bytes

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