IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 92bec15bf3f49cd2…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

174.4 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 314541a217daa9cf493c3114338efaca SHA-1: 16552285edf33d7e7d3125ce75ec4a6c91993e67 SHA-256: 92bec15bf3f49cd2a287d9e28f8a680de0323939bcdaa46f2566a84d750b9b40
268 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The file is an XLSM document containing Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. Critical heuristics indicate the use of dangerous XLM functions like EXEC and REGISTER, which are typically used to download and execute payloads. The ClamAV detection as 'Xls.Downloader.IcedID' further supports this. The embedded URLs are highly suspicious and likely serve as the distribution points for the second-stage payload.

Heuristics 8

  • 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.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA, REGISTER, EXEC, GOTO, HALT 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.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0
  • Auto_Open macro high OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains vbaProject.bin — VBA macros present
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 3 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 http://212.8.251.227/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://188.127.249.217/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://45.142.214.113/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://212.8.251.227/
    • http://188.127.249.217/
    • http://45.142.214.113/
    • 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 5

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
d726392fa624decd655abf3c88289cd26a75333e6a1c1e9236d44deb7d1a86cf		 vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 728 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
ffeadf461a861b848e16d408ddf90ab26d4ee9034c61c0e9ccac79179e672dd7		 vba-project OOXML VBA project: xl/vbaProject.bin 10240 bytes
xlm_sheet_00.xml
734b493607f9af89b07cc4118a5bf2852674c3d3c7fa0c7e182fce34368dae12		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 3714 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_01.xml
d4b7c27cef36121e9a1cebb537b1497d6dbdefb54b4e63fb30fb0a139195f54c		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1619 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_02.xml
9fbf900cb2210fde894a240dc74a5d998ab7c73f2130162b2dc94ce5dd71d494		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet3.xml 1616 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).

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