Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 79491f1999876aea…

MALICIOUS

PDF

16.4 KB
MD5: fd12a9b3a5eb8a96aec99701dce0b778 SHA-1: 8bc7ddfd9aaf3b38d0189ab8eb5f4ac2fa7652cc SHA-256: 79491f1999876aea0c1e2a95f6ffb84a59ca7ea61e02eee8ee9d5cecfd2dfcbc
234 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 JavaScript T1204.001 Malicious Link

The PDF file contains obfuscated JavaScript, identified by multiple heuristics including PDF_JAVASCRIPT, PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER, and PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_CALLEE_HEX_STAGER. The critical CVE_2007_5659 heuristic indicates the exploitation of a known vulnerability using the Collab.collectEmailInfo method to stage and execute JavaScript. This JavaScript is heavily obfuscated, employing techniques like String.fromCharCode with hex decoding and incremental string building for evaluation, typical of multi-stage droppers. The primary goal appears to be the execution of a second-stage payload, as suggested by the dropper classification and the presence of large deobfuscated JavaScript files.

Heuristics 9

  • Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 critical CVE exact CVE_2007_5659
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 is a buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long argument or heap-sprayed message field passed to Collab.collectEmailInfo(). Part of a series of Acrobat JS API exploits. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901
  • Annotation subject callee-key hex JavaScript stager high PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_CALLEE_HEX_STAGER
    PDF JavaScript uses syncAnnotScan()/getAnnots() to read an indirect annotation /Subject stream, percent-decodes it through marker replacement, then uses a callee.toString()-derived key to decode and eval the final exploit stage.
  • Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper high PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER
    PDF JavaScript shows 4 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, hex_codec_loop, incremental_eval_build, repeated_pluginschk. This is strongly consistent with pre-2011 Adobe Reader PDF droppers — OpenAction JS reads encoded data from annotation subjects, decodes it through one or more hex / base-N loops, and invokes eval indirectly (method name built one character at a time). The actual CVE is hidden in the final decoded layer and is not visible via static analysis.
  • 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.
  • String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE
    String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0009_000.js
4718a27c2224fc36bf24f8e8e04598f1ad78adce4401c7be2708318738a6983d
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 9 at offset 0x3F42 469 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
annotation_subject_callee_hex_stage_000.js
5a7fa15f4fb3b3494a1a2b945270b269dfec76c8d961913845376f9c2683d32b
deobfuscated-js annotation-subject callee-key decoded JavaScript at offset 0x19A2 5108 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 5 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
04ea3d2d8fe43454d12e7cf720fcb506df3297d3eff7005b8472a2145ab304e6
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x19F6 11512 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
deobfuscated.js
cb5e3902d505f532f3a3b867aae148be422e31ae3f8a1ca32d72a355f29d4adc
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 85569 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 10 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 3 long base64-like blob(s).