Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 78c53adfc035bbd2…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.5 KB Created: 2020-11-27 11:42:12 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-10-23
MD5: 468ae17cd62ce56c3c420a5a56126b15 SHA-1: e508aaa06f426b846bff033e1598c63376b46b35 SHA-256: 78c53adfc035bbd2e1a0f45eea4823a1fb48ec57ef2b0c85d80cfe6f8a178e2b
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled workbook containing an Auto_Open function, which is a known technique for executing malicious code upon opening. The presence of dangerous formula APIs in the Auto_Open macro indicates an intent to run arbitrary commands. This suggests the file is a downloader or dropper for a second-stage 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 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6769 bytes
SHA-256: 9225a81fdc74a0466eda601609329d3af49703fc0fc7d070773a4710acb90b8b
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     17 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  iuqJHFDt
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - aupYVayG len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!E158 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - CGvORc len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - djVncJDooQ len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dSfpMjyG len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - FRqbuI len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - GlrHRpg len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - gLUXbuEhM len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - hbtidGTmkri len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - KgxFhQjc len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MBsNp len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - mUwtOQDPOiM len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - oJoTrd len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - rvMMosz len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - tHbYctygz len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - tMQKFmp len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - UGtAHMqB len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - whncIk len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - XPrHeOPEFRXy len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZDURHLr len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - zHULlrIy len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABEL
... (truncated)

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