Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 8237a23eadbc0188…

MALICIOUS

PDF

9.6 KB
MD5: f2e0114ed0b8fbcaeb5dd1347fe85db6 SHA-1: fc798fac9d320c1c409e4bb4c3aa77e81c6637d8 SHA-256: 8237a23eadbc0188a2a507e9987d6094b6d2963548dfccd964c3af1754716c6e
498 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.007 JavaScript

The PDF file contains heavily obfuscated JavaScript that exploits CVE-2007-5659, specifically targeting Adobe Reader versions within a certain patch range. The script decodes and evaluates a payload, which includes a URL for downloading a second-stage shellcode. This indicates a clear intent to execute arbitrary code and download further malicious content.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 14

  • Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 critical CVE exact CVE_2007_5659
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 is a buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long argument or heap-sprayed message field passed to Collab.collectEmailInfo(). Part of a series of Acrobat JS API exploits. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Adobe Reader APSB08-13 patch-range version gate (CVE-2007-5659) high CVE likely PDF_JS_ADOBE_APSB08_13_PATCH_GATE
    PDF JavaScript gates the exploit payload on (>= 8 && < 8.1.1) OR (< 7.1) — the Reader 7.0.x / 8.0–8.1.1 window patched by Adobe APSB08-13 for the CVE-2007-5659 Collab.collectEmailInfo buffer overflow. Only kits that target that exact bug check both of those patch points; benign scripts do not.
  • PDF JavaScript exploit cluster critical PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER
    PDF combines an executable JavaScript/action surface with exploit staging indicators such as eval/unescape/fromCharCode, XFA script content, or a related CVE pattern. Benign form JavaScript remains low-severity, but this correlated cluster is high-confidence malicious behavior.
  • Annotation subject percent-decoding eval stager critical PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_MARKER_EVAL_STAGER
    OpenAction JavaScript forces annotation enumeration, reads an annotation /Subject payload with getAnnots(), rewrites marker bytes into percent escapes, decodes it with unescape(), and dispatches it through eval. This is a high-confidence exploit-kit staging pattern. It is intentionally not mapped to CVE-2009-1492 unless getAnnots() itself carries the crafted integer or long argument shape for that vulnerability.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35912 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35912
  • eval() call high PDF_EVAL
    eval() found — commonly used for obfuscated exploit execution (matched inside decoded stream)
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
  • Annotation subject callee-key hex JavaScript stager high PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_CALLEE_HEX_STAGER
    PDF JavaScript uses syncAnnotScan()/getAnnots() to read an indirect annotation /Subject stream, percent-decodes it through marker replacement, then uses a callee.toString()-derived key to decode and eval the final exploit stage.
  • PDF JavaScript shellcode contains an embedded download URL high PDF_JS_SHELLCODE_DOWNLOAD_URL
    Decoded PDF JavaScript shellcode contains a hardcoded http(s) URL stored as little-endian %uXXXX Unicode escapes. Reader exploit shellcode embeds the second-stage fetch URL this way and pulls it down with a urlmon/URLDownloadToFile-style download-and-execute (commodity downloader behaviour rather than a specific Acrobat CVE).
  • JavaScript action low 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.
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.
  • 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://efxhifatwe.com/nte/trest2/eH18543036V0100f060006R00000000102T51a79af6201l0409Ke3ccbda8

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0007_000.js
7218a1c68060953321573daa035b16f5f32928ce25a9eb656690dbe78cd9464e
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 7 at offset 0x19B 201 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
annotation_subject_callee_hex_stage_000.js
a4127f8fd6936077cec966ee28355edb682a0c8756c00135f87b8b4296b4bf40
deobfuscated-js annotation-subject callee-key decoded JavaScript at offset 0x14A 5198 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 5 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_001.js
618734e8783bd5d77f968d6b7d0146c237b668949d19e5b92beaffad428dc08d
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x2B5 12207 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
deobfuscated.js
d45939def1b98a9ea66f7efa6d612a462d19a10ab9c376c2a3767d19f4d87202
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 47474 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 4 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).