Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 7e2f538483ee6bd4…

MALICIOUS

PDF

107.6 KB Authoring application: cairo 1.12.16 (http://cairographics.org First seen: 2015-09-17
MD5: 3accdf865b28c46e18aee795a1bc60c0 SHA-1: c39ad6856d5defde4c2930296aa4680e28222588 SHA-256: 7e2f538483ee6bd4fd92aaa4a290dc513d76f8989ac54f9984377795d6e9dc0b
596 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.007 JavaScript T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The PDF document contains embedded JavaScript that triggers a launch action for cmd.exe, which in turn attempts to execute an embedded Windows executable disguised as 'boleto.pdf'. This executable is detected by ClamAV as Win.Trojan.Swrort-5710536-0. The embedded JavaScript's call to this.exportDataObject() indicates an intent to download and execute a second-stage payload, likely from one of the unknown reputation URLs.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9999

Heuristics 13

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\boleto.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact critical 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.
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • Image-only document with action trigger (screenshot lure) medium PDF_IMAGE_LURE
    PDF has 1 image(s), only 0 text block(s), carries a click-outward action, and is only 107 KB — typical shape of a phishing lure where a full-page screenshot hides a clickable button that launches or submits to an attacker URL.
  • JavaScript action low 1 related finding 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • 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://cairographics.org In PDF document text
    • http://www.zeustech.net/Referenced by PDF JavaScript
    • http://]hostname[:port]/pathIn extracted file (boleto.pdf)
    • tcp://172.16.0.110:4444In extracted file (boleto.pdf)
    • http://www.apache.org/Referenced by PDF JavaScript

Related samples 8

Ranked by shared artifacts, heuristics, extracted URLs, CVEs, and signatures.

Full JSON: related samples API

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
boleto.pdf pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 13 at offset 0xFC6C 73802 bytes
SHA-256: 979dd68de10cbe882fa8c2361fdeb847262b3170aa3877bad3a9513ca706a531
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Swrort-5710536-0
Obfuscation or payload: likely
actual_type=PE; declared_or_context_type=PDF; filename=boleto.pdf; kind=pdf-embedded-file Static shellcode analysis recovered the Metasploit stager connect-back address: 172.16.0.110:4444 (reverse/x86, lab (non-routable)) Static shellcode analysis found candidate code region(s). Indicators: SC_PEB_ACCESS, SC_PUSH_STRING, SC_STR_GETPROCADDRESS Static shellcode analysis recovered API/import strings: kernel32.dll, advapi32.dll, KERNEL32.DLL, ADVAPI32.DLL, LoadLibraryA, GetProcAddress
javascript_obj0014_000.js pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 14 at offset 0x1A982 55 bytes
SHA-256: 6a993406aa2b91bf5279211474dc424c7d38d68b2e42401f393eed73835a572f
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
this.exportDataObject({ cName: "boleto", nLaunch: 0 });

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