Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 78a095a5f718c3b9…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

21.0 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-18
MD5: b95704c1e3ae620ef1526b072c0b3192 SHA-1: efd5fd09c0cfe8856f59b1bb3418f97f3b9cc3c6 SHA-256: 78a095a5f718c3b955bbe9ee657160a5dd5d7c5e0f6753d4a62be4142dcec60f
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File

The file is an Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) containing Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous functions like FORMULA to download payloads from multiple URLs and execute them using regsvr32.exe. The ClamAV detection and the presence of multiple suspicious URLs strongly indicate a downloader, consistent with the Emotet family.

Heuristics 6

  • 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 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.Emotet03220-9941789-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03220-9941789-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 4 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.bridgewien.at/admin/9Osvbo9caA4QYishnWka/
    • http://aleph.org.ng/wp-includes/k8YwVWkrdmUM9/
    • http://automyjniafordon.bydgoszcz.pl/123/mOWZgMaL/
    • http://autoat.mx/assets/VljikBuT029PkSBfrc/
    • http://bartboutens.nl/cgi-bin/aPqSkCZXI3ueRdI/
    • http://alkautsarlampung.sch.id/belajar/WQlNleMJKoulGBUvgC9/
    • http://www.annuncisiciliani.it/app/3l1ZgVfwIEiIcGelh/
    • 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 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
bd1141b96e73c592d43d300feb4a2bed92034dffba7d5e49bf95a81f1348fbbc		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4144 bytes

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