Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 9b5d43f5531aa79e…

MALICIOUS

PDF

7.9 KB
MD5: 72b17c1fce245784d4546610e11da3ba SHA-1: 860af7cccffe340afda4fafdde1c75a2e159e9a7 SHA-256: 9b5d43f5531aa79ec195fd917f88e5b380212334f4cffaad3ab5d02e21a3981b
166 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF contains obfuscated JavaScript, identified as a dropper, which is designed to download and execute a secondary payload. The 'PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER' heuristic indicates anti-analysis techniques and the use of annotation subjects for encoded payloads. ClamAV detection further confirms its malicious nature. The primary function appears to be the delivery of further malicious content.

Heuristics 7

  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36086 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36086
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
  • Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper high PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER
    PDF JavaScript shows 3 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, incremental_eval_build, repeated_pluginschk. This is strongly consistent with pre-2011 Adobe Reader PDF droppers — OpenAction JS reads encoded data from annotation subjects, decodes it through one or more hex / base-N loops, and invokes eval indirectly (method name built one character at a time). The actual CVE is hidden in the final decoded layer and is not visible via static analysis.
  • 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.
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0006_000.js
f9b4659beaf681d266cfb5046d495e7b144d406eff72e71ecd4d1451ae25ca11
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 6 at offset 0x143 481 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
fc6f53922cde9279200dcd053a9d492fe749af36394061a36de4e547c1ed497c
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1AA3 1681 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
deobfuscated.js
a228412ed75f322b91176281cf29076c37083d180b8f2a8367af220a1f6cd9cd
deobfuscated-js PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass 23524 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 4 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 2 long base64-like blob(s).