Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLSX — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 7961394474d16ce2…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLSX

45.0 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:17:20 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 85f159b981ac08cdeea87a50b41c26c9 SHA-1: 47ef1d118b38fa5d2382ebf379c3398a110f968c SHA-256: 7961394474d16ce2c110267c5d276f99e9009d142bee9e03a5fedc732b792020
180 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro, which is flagged as dangerous. This macro is designed to execute automatically when the workbook is opened. The presence of environment evasion and a halt gate suggests an attempt to prevent analysis or ensure execution in a specific environment. The macro likely attempts to download and execute a secondary payload, a common technique for initial access and further compromise.

Heuristics 4

  • 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.
  • XLM Auto_Open environment-evasion HALT gate high OLE_XLM_ENVIRONMENT_EVASION_HALT
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet auto-executes multiple GET.WORKSPACE / GET.WINDOW environment checks and halts execution when the host does not match the expected user environment. This is a common sandbox-evasion pattern in XLM malware and is stronger than a bare XLM macro-sheet indicator.
  • 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
f84ef53b089107a85678518bdd3904a99361c0ca4217c2f0e9d917b75884014b		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 14414 bytes

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