Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 7c6882a8474ebcce…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

35.6 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-22
MD5: e42f1ecd9eaedee701794dbb97548bac SHA-1: e548924e12f239f8e442d331e2a3e40a68694806 SHA-256: 7c6882a8474ebccec34048f7380b65015a3585a43a05e40b1ff26ed4fcd8b638
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This Excel 4.0 macro sheet utilizes dangerous functions like FORMULA to download and execute payloads. The reconstructed URL 'ww.rivabodrumresort.com/eski_site/HozRXt/' and other similar URLs are used to fetch the next stage. The ClamAV detection as 'Xls.Downloader.Emotet03221-9941790-0' strongly suggests an Emotet family infection. The macro also attempts to execute 'regsvr32.exe', indicating a likely payload execution attempt.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (2 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.Emotet03221-9941790-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03221-9941790-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 5 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://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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
56299d8024c4f1ac82a7522c7ead08f39677c0bae82297826862fce76df69744		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1495 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
8e2616826469cdb87cf1c4eb49e8c201b264eceb93468f26315db51abb9ca50d		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4178 bytes

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