Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 8a88cb7999ffcd13…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:46:54 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-06-13
MD5: 18c58ef2688935ec2257d27009093ffa SHA-1: 661a709bad1805e2824168732d69a2f4bc984ecf SHA-256: 8a88cb7999ffcd131dfd4cd86d87711f9646d3aea201b9a21cdb1cdb50faaebc
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a critical finding. This indicates the macro sheet is configured to automatically execute when the workbook is opened. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN suggests the macro is intended to execute arbitrary commands, likely to download and run a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6506 bytes
SHA-256: 730f0ce6a68040b83b749438fd77a77bec2a7cc2ea73828018cb5281d6608e78
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  JGPyR
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ACkadtDVL len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - AFfsxYexCC len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ArumEiJOVI len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!F144 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - bMWHICDyib len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - deXwkALN len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - DiOxdLzAz len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - EIMIKJ len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - fGPmhJuMMdsW len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - JCJCNGtnm len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - JHbAZeYe len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - mdcbes len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MSPBdxRMVQhX len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - Nfkkg len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OYnfnPvoSEX len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - uvPUnqxmY len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - VhgzAxdE len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vhoiymXGzaG len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - XqkZdWuOk len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - YBfjzI len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZyFOZieQ len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00f
... (truncated)

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