Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 98896a5474ea6534…

MALICIOUS

PDF

94.8 KB Created: 2010-03-30 11:06:32 -01:00 Authoring application: PrimoPDF http://www.primopdf.com (via Nitro PDF PrimoPDF)
MD5: 7b9639b6982fbe0908ac92998b9b072c SHA-1: 2af6e60208af9d55a446a059f1ed577ab5936cf8 SHA-256: 98896a5474ea65343ddb34c3b371b5295e59b730d18b8d7520c5edc8b2e81bf4
424 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1187 Exploitation for Client Execution

This PDF document exploits CVE-2010-1240 via a launch action to execute cmd.exe. It also contains an embedded Windows executable masquerading as a PDF file named 'SecurityTest2a.pdf'. The embedded JavaScript API 'this.exportDataObject' further indicates a dropper functionality, likely intended to download and execute a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 11

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\SecurityTest2a.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-20504 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-20504
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • JavaScript action low PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • Embedded JS stream low PDF_JS
    PDF references a /JS stream. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • 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://www.primopdf.com

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
SecurityTest2a.pdf
bdb3430b055299861bceb5991174a8a42b098939cd9439f05ccadc07a36015f9		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 21 at offset 0xB818 107560 bytes
javascript_obj0022_000.js
ecd29787207d6ec28819a7c704feb130c8662c34553166f96090ca5c274d7d9f		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 22 at offset 0x1778E 63 bytes
font_00_sfnt_off00000ffb.bin
3387428220788b4a55834005d6e7b7e83621c6d30598f861a594070e392ebf0e		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0xFFB 25548 bytes
font_01_sfnt_off00004f0f.bin
63fad509c3460e9470590681ef2a3ca89d38a4849882347be033125a333a464d		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x4F0F 40348 bytes

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