Hancitor — Office (OOXML) / .XLSX malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 9001f46585203a7b…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSX

324.0 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:17:20 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 9c6c371521d12fd467cb94056ec59bb9 SHA-1: 2e9cfe7c1ac56ead4331562802f36e5e1b031ea1 SHA-256: 9001f46585203a7b0c52e4194ebabed2a1214774bcec53a69d124114d67164a5
180 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Hancitor · confidence 95%

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

The sample is an XLSX file containing multiple Excel 4.0 macro sheets, which is a strong indicator of malicious intent. ClamAV signature 'Xls.Downloader.Hancitor03222-9941794-0' further confirms its classification as a downloader. The presence of XLM macros suggests the file is designed to execute code, likely to download and run a further stage payload.

Heuristics 3

  • 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. The macro sheet is stored as XLSB/BIFF12 binary content, which many XML-only OOXML scanners miss.
  • XLSB international XLM macro sheet hidden in .xlsx critical OOXML_XLSB_INTL_MACROSHEET_IN_XLSX
    OOXML package is named .xlsx but contains XLSB workbook parts and an international Excel 4.0 macro sheet. This hides XLM macro execution from scanners that trust the extension or only inspect XML worksheet parts. The technique is macro execution, not a document-parser CVE.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Hancitor03222-9941794-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Hancitor03222-9941794-0

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.bin
d28d704ceab725131328afcbbb440d7ebb70e9aa82ff3f36f8960d268138fa87
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.bin 30353 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.bin
fb9a05dd95df5d5c43e07ce2dd58a69245121c3b7158a91678a964d597caddf5
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet2.bin 48802 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.bin
0045be3a060b066ecaeab7c84aaa2aad45f22679cbb5577982f183ffba13c2c6
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet3.bin 103820 bytes