PDF malware analysis — malicious · 8a42920fcd98af59

MALICIOUS

PDF

15.9 KB

MD5: ccaaa7ce4ebb646006fc8d20b8832e21 SHA-1: bf80664d0217173c909b5a1b9c40db247993775b SHA-256: 8a42920fcd98af59093a40c9437e970ca5b893532d3fda1978200db71f74bf1f

194 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK

T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.001 Malicious Link T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information

The file is a PDF containing obfuscated JavaScript, identified as a multi-stage dropper. The critical heuristic CVE_2007_5659 indicates exploitation of a known PDF vulnerability via the Collab.collectEmailInfo method. The JavaScript is heavily obfuscated using techniques like String.fromCharCode, hex codec loops, and incremental eval builds, ultimately leading to the download and execution of a second-stage payload. The ClamAV detection further confirms its malicious nature.

Heuristics 8

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 static deobfuscation)
ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION

ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901
Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper high PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER

PDF JavaScript shows 5 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, hex_codec_loop, hex_dashed_payload, incremental_eval_build, repeated_pluginschk. This is strongly consistent with pre-2011 Adobe Reader PDF droppers — OpenAction JS reads encoded data from annotation subjects, decodes it through one or more hex / base-N loops, and invokes eval indirectly (method name built one character at a time). The actual CVE is hidden in the final decoded layer and is not visible via static analysis.
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.
String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE

String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
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.

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

Filename	Kind	Source	Size
`javascript_obj0005_000.js` `4718a27c2224fc36bf24f8e8e04598f1ad78adce4401c7be2708318738a6983d`	pdf-javascript-stream	PDF /JS object 5 at offset 0x148	469 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
`legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js` `6ee2a95c3396c6c57c66ef5e7efe3c2c5f692c1dfe593b03066efff419257c58`	deobfuscated-js	repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1B2E	12149 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
`deobfuscated.js` `ef01ed041771bedf35d6cf6d42afedcc7ff807d7a90b5e92422c443029dc1f0a`	deobfuscated-js	PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass	124531 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 10 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 2 long base64-like blob(s).

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