Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 9c6feaf97ad329e1…

MALICIOUS

PDF

40.8 KB
MD5: 034fe4f2008c1478c05270c9056850a4 SHA-1: 910697a7c1b85dad4dcc7e9fb062b068d6300153 SHA-256: 9c6feaf97ad329e11c68cc2aae14e4baeb6d0685cbe929c1688e26cfb6ebef2e
364 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1071.001 Web Protocols

The PDF file contains multiple critical heuristic firings indicating exploitation of CVE-2009-4324 (media.newPlayer), CVE-2009-0927 (Collab.getIcon), and CVE-2007-5659 (Collab.collectEmailInfo). These vulnerabilities are used to execute embedded JavaScript. The deobfuscated JavaScript payload, legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js, was detected by ClamAV as Js.Exploit.Shellcode-18, suggesting it is a malicious exploit script. The script likely downloads and executes a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 10

  • media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_4324
    PDF JavaScript calls media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 is a use-after-free in Adobe Reader's multimedia plugin triggered by media.newPlayer(). Actively exploited as a zero-day in December 2009. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_0927
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by Collab.getIcon() with a crafted argument. Allows arbitrary code execution. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 critical CVE exact CVE_2007_5659
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 is a buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long argument or heap-sprayed message field passed to Collab.collectEmailInfo(). Part of a series of Acrobat JS API exploits. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream high PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain script execution markers such as ActiveXObject/CreateObject, WScript.Shell, PowerShell, or shell-exec primitives. This is stronger than ordinary PDF JavaScript because it indicates a staged external script payload hidden in stream bytes.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE
    String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules.

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0007_000.js
b6aa84327457df2770d6fe91b5678c30cdca590b7a5bae88dd4203c9ecf93215
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 7 at offset 0x50AE 446 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s). Carved artifact contains 3 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
62c8dae43285e4adbd5316aa1a4eedbd305d0121696f0cc666bc53cc7c1c33a0
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x16E 6740 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Js.Exploit.Shellcode-18
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 12 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).