Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 9ca8d2cb8de17e57…

MALICIOUS

PDF

3.5 KB Created: 2008-31-20 53:85:00 Authoring application: Scribus 1.3.3.12 (via Scribus PDF Library 1.3.3.12)
MD5: 382a40ef99c4785b069fcb2932794c71 SHA-1: 0fa4c493864575261179d7353d8bd3be888f42e1 SHA-256: 9ca8d2cb8de17e570ed98db3f223bef58e8ecf4fe14bc32fc87a6ce03690cf43
166 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1566.002 Spearphishing Attachment

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript that is triggered by the OpenAction. The critical heuristic indicates the use of CVE-2007-5659, specifically the Collab.collectEmailInfo method, which is used to decode and evaluate JavaScript. This JavaScript is likely designed to exploit a vulnerability in the PDF reader to execute arbitrary code, potentially leading to further stages of infection. No specific malware family was identified.

Heuristics 7

  • 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)
  • OpenAction trigger high PDF_OPENACTION
    PDF has an /OpenAction — code runs automatically when opened
  • eval() call high PDF_EVAL
    eval() found — commonly used for obfuscated exploit execution (matched inside decoded stream)
  • 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. (matched inside decoded 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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0013_001.js
0f37a53e074055beb30c35b7c7254858cc59e7ca5b1ab02b835f676405749e15
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 13 at offset 0x3D7 13505 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 3 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
numeric_charcode_stage_000.js
8405f2468eb51eb1d2a1a3be024560090bf868d4632c08b586c6ed8dc61a4cdd
deobfuscated-js numeric char-code string decoded JavaScript at offset 0x445 4032 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 5 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).