Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 88f60489d35bec17…

MALICIOUS

PDF

104.0 KB
MD5: 21b5edca88895a085542f0d5f37b084d SHA-1: 12b4cafafe226f02956a6398c6417e9a64e2ff70 SHA-256: 88f60489d35bec17bf8e51f5f6312a503b11050098343ca158d5df40be0dfea4
280 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF file contains XFA (XML Forms Architecture) which is known to be vulnerable to heap spray attacks. Heuristics indicate the presence of exploit code and risky executable script within the XFA form, specifically triggering a heap spray. This suggests the PDF is designed to download and execute a second-stage payload. ClamAV detections further confirm its malicious nature.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 7

  • XFA form contains risky executable script high CVE related PDF_XFA_SCRIPT
    PDF embeds an XFA form whose script block contains exploit, submission/launch, or shell-execution primitives. Ordinary LiveCycle print/update scripts are left as generic XFA/JS signals unless stronger behavior is present.
  • XFA JavaScript heap-spray exploit code critical PDF_XFA_HEAP_SPRAY
    PDF contains XFA script content with heap-spray or shellcode-like JavaScript markers such as large encoded word sequences, util.pack, large arrays, or spray variable names. This is a weaponised Adobe Reader exploit pattern, not a normal interactive form.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-6136306-0
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • 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://ns.adobe.com/xdp/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-template/2.5/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-data/1.0/

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_pdf_script_0000023d.bin
fcfbf6ee6dfc536aaa0c47ff135fb98727aeb3be8e9ef700fd9aa4cc02a20c34
pdf-embedded-script PDF raw stream script payload at offset 0x23D 105777 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36370
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely