Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 7810bb07c590cfcd…

MALICIOUS

PDF

369.9 KB Created: 2010-01-12 16:07:38 Authoring application: Microsoft® Office Word 2007
MD5: 55b0abfeb903bd59c797e82b397960c4 SHA-1: 284409057199c9a2fb58ef6e94484623445c3fc3 SHA-256: 7810bb07c590cfcd6efdff24074671ecf325ea2976098857360cfb4857c9950c
798 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.007 JavaScript T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1083 File and Directory Discovery

This PDF document exploits CVE-2010-1240 and related vulnerabilities to launch cmd.exe, which then attempts to execute a dropped payload. The embedded JavaScript 'this.exportDataObject({ cName: "secure", nLaunch: 0 });' indicates the intention to export and potentially launch an embedded executable disguised as 'secure.pdf'. The document also contains lures for disabling security software and harvesting recovery secrets, strongly suggesting a credential theft or account compromise objective.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9940

Heuristics 19

  • 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.
  • 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 (if exist "%HOMEPATH%\\My Documents\\secure.pdf" (cd "%HOMEPATH%\\My Documents"' — 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.
  • 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.
  • Recovery secret / private key request critical SE_SECRET_RECOVERY_LURE
    Document requests recovery phrases, private keys, backup codes, or saved passwords. Requests for these secrets in a document are high-risk.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • /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.
  • Clickable PDF combines external action with parser-evasion structure high PDF_ACTION_PARSER_EVASION
    PDF has an external clickable URI together with object graph or xref structures that make parsers disagree, such as divergent duplicate objects, parser divergence, or xref offset mismatch. That combination is stronger than a plain link: the document is both an outward-action carrier and a parser-confusion/evasion sample.
  • Security software disable instruction high SE_SECURITY_BYPASS
    Document instructs the user to disable antivirus or security software — unusual for ordinary documents and high-risk in an unsolicited file
  • MFA / one-time-code harvesting lure high SE_MFA_LURE
    Document asks for a one-time code, authenticator approval, or MFA confirmation — consistent with credential phishing kits that steal session tokens or abuse multi-factor authentication
  • JavaScript action low PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • External URI info PDF_URI
    PDF contains an external URL action
  • 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://ha.ckers.org/blog/20080915/clickjacking/
    • http://www.aspectsecurity.com/documents/Bypassing_VBAAC_with_HTTP_Verb_Tampering.pdf
    • http://www.jasypt.org/encrypting-passwords.html
    • http://www.aquaphoenix.com/ref/gnu_c_library/libc_255.html
    • http://projects.webappsec.org/XML-Attribute-Blowup
    • http://www.securiteam.com/securitynews/6D0100A5PU.html
    • http://www.javacommerce.com/displaypage.jsp?name=dtd.sql&id=18238
    • http://labs.securitycompass.com/index.php/2009/09/18/xslt-command-execution-exploit/
    • http://www.scanit.be/uploads/ssl%20security%20in%20be%20-%2003-2008.pdf
    • http://extendedsubset.com/?p=8
    • http://www.thoughtcrime.org/papers/null-prefix-attacks.pdf
    • http://www.thoughtcrime.org/papers/ocsp-attack.pdf
    • http://www.dotnetjohn.com/articles.aspx?articleid=3
    • http://www.jasypt.org/encrypting-configuration.html
    • http://unixwiz.net/techtips/chroot-practices.html
    • http://www.sectheory.com/clickjacking.htm
    • http://www.javacoffeebreak.com/books/extracts/javanotesv3/c9/s1.html
    • http://www.securitycompass.com
    • http://ocsp.verisign.com0
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:Intrinsic_Security_Working_Group
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/SQL_Injection
    • http://code.google.com/p/owasp-esapi-java/
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/XSS_%28Cross_Site_Scripting%29_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet
    • http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2009/03/reducing-xss-by-way-of-automatic.html
    • http://struts.apache.org/1.2.4/userGuide/dev_validator.html
    • http://www.w3schools.com/soap/default.asp
    • http://www.juniper.net/security/auto/vulnerabilities/vuln34917.html
    • http://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/80.html
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Web_Parameter_Tampering
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAC
    • http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb386448.aspx#SecuringViewState
    • http://people.mozilla.org/~bsterne/content-security-policy/
    • http://people.mozilla.org/~bsterne/content-security-policy/origin-header-proposal.html
    • http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-3669/bncbk?a=view
    • http://owasp-esapi-java.googlecode.com/svn/trunk_doc/org/owasp/esapi/AccessController.html
    • http://owasp-esapi-java.googlecode.com/svn/trunk_doc/org/owasp/esapi/reference/IntegerAccessReferenceMap.html
    • http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910442
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Path_Traversal
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_user_enumeration_%28OWASP-AT-002%29#Description_of_the_Issue
    • http://www.juniper.net/security/auto/vulnerabilities/vuln11430.html
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Password_length_&_complexity
    • http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-63/SP800-63V1_0_2.pdf
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php?title=Blocking_Brute_Force_Attacks
    • http://static.springsource.org/spring-security/site/
    • http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/security/SecureRandom.html
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross-Site_Request_Forgery_%28CSRF%29_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet
    • http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/contrib/csrf/
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Session_Fixation
    • http://static.springsource.org/spring-security/site/docs/3.0.x/reference/ns-config.html#ns-session-fixation
    • http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_cookies_attributes_%28OWASP-SM-002%29
    +27 more URL(s)

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
secure.pdf
2954646dbdada79853d5ef3a40fe56a855dbb7f513f035fec0ff23684df300a5
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 1166 at offset 0x5752C 37888 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Swrort-6233
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
javascript_obj1167_000.js
6ecd6b93cf444e035560100134f11d1b479f6dd0a4c09dfceab96fb82899553b
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 1167 at offset 0x5C218 55 bytes
stream_023_off0003bf3b.bin
03c012c5b5d7bdce2292c0e68867f3e84da21805d15e3bb7fa250afbaf8abac2
decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0x3BF3B 191840 bytes