Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSX malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 87568ea97f7f8bc5…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSX

99.2 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: a91d975bc3e230b3033d823a575aeee9 SHA-1: 209b8e5e0806e26750d5c8800116734a93fc736a SHA-256: 87568ea97f7f8bc56f073b0c2eaa408a17873cf56b15a795895b74c0cdc8f81b
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

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

This Excel 4.0 macro sheet utilizes dangerous functions like FORMULA to download and execute a payload. The script reconstructs the URL "https://grandeestudio.com/suqnugjm/msPWLXZBJiTYtyOGXx/" and uses rundll32.exe to execute a downloaded file from SysWow64\iix.ocx. Additional reconstructed URLs include "http://mastermasonzinc.com/cgi-bin/wdGQ8F9rEKhWJz/", "http://fotoblicshop.com/tshirtcommerce/RX/", "http://gmo-sol-p10.heteml.jp/includes/lifbJwE8S9IB/", and "https://es.madeinriver.fr/wp-includes/g/". This behavior is consistent with Emotet's typical download and execution chain.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 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, RETURN 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.EmotetExcel01222-9935624-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.EmotetExcel01222-9935624-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 4 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 https://grandeestudio.com/suqnugjm/msPWLXZBJiTYtyOGXx/
    • 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 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
928f85ed00cbeb9bc82579750322f8cb22033ec793f84667d905d7c8fcb8cbc6		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 3477 bytes

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