Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLSX — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 8fbf1590771243d6…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLSX

58.5 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:17:20 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 8bc72461a962bf7ca0df4c69f3b3f16b SHA-1: 0afab595bfc2ea557743caa482684451beb7ef8c SHA-256: 8fbf1590771243d6acff1df44382a63b7cd5ef14c0c3d0e0b52129b415058115
160 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1204.002 Malicious File

The sample is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled spreadsheet. It contains an Auto_Open macro that uses dangerous functions, including RUN, indicating an attempt to execute arbitrary code. The document body and heuristics suggest a lure to enable macros, a common technique for delivering further malware. The extracted URL `www.psicheaurora.it/fanta/download.php` is likely used to download a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 4

  • 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.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
f4049687de69fbae7a0009d349264e905f03c629c5b7f7eb1990c6538d126bea
xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 2738 bytes