Emotet Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis — malicious · 8d70ff7a4c2752a6

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

69.8 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-02-27

MD5: 91aaab5b967699ae50316921a356a006 SHA-1: 17f8af613f232a37895b3d5e348a6db0c0999f8e SHA-256: 8d70ff7a4c2752a670e63bb81eafde0eb67b386fb2abfcfa2f5f4c51deccbb66

270 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK

T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1071.001 Web Protocols T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, a known technique for delivering Emotet. The macros utilize dangerous functions like FORMULA to call Win32 APIs, enabling the download and execution of a second-stage payload. The script reconstructs URLs such as "https://vasilestudio.com/wp-admin/pZ1vbd5Z/" and "https://estesgroup.net/New-site-25062021/UkQPppHG9pLNE/" to fetch the payload, and also attempts to use "regsvr32.exe" for execution. The ClamAV detection ID further supports the Emotet family attribution.

Heuristics 7

Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 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 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.Emotet03221-9940728-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION

ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03221-9940728-0
External relationship medium OOXML_EXTERNAL_REL

External target in xl/externalLinks/_rels/externalLink1.xml.rels: /Users/Admin/Desktop/File/13j/ZV/ZV.xlsm
Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET

Excel workbook contains 5 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://vasilestudio.com/wp-admin/pZ1vbd5Z/
- https://estesgroup.net/New-site-25062021/UkQPppHG9pLNE/
- https://robointeligentedecomentarios.com/wp-includes/YBS9a02Y68auiEdP/
- https://triclicks.net/wp-admin/bv/
- https://thecanadianarab.com/wp-content/VJ/
- 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 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

Filename	Kind	Source	Size
`xlm_sheet_00.xml` `6dd9356952cdd6b95caf156e3e1c1471d7e098b9395e326c2a5a80643c35f018`	xlm-macrosheet	OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml	3546 bytes
`xlm_sheet_01.xml` `966e861f35410708893ffb1f97241504111fc93333012aa9c7613d379c3c60bb`	xlm-macrosheet	OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml	1204 bytes
`xlm_sheet_02.xml` `67d74ce6825b900ebce4400789acf68e409bb1eeffe279bee966d138d9d814c1`	xlm-macrosheet	OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml	1227 bytes

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