Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 9cb8ce8475ebb78e…

MALICIOUS

PDF

81.4 KB Created: 2005-10-21 13:05:36 -05:00 Authoring application: Adobe PageMaker 7.0 (via Acrobat Distiller 6.0.1 (Windows))
MD5: 8007cca54e7642b0a1d4b98bb34bd1d0 SHA-1: f7816012097b37a625dd542a900718f39ca24fbc SHA-256: 9cb8ce8475ebb78e129848eeddf66bdfa88631b430291d0296b144219df418fb
484 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The PDF file contains a JavaScript action that leverages the /Launch action to execute cmd.exe. This action is designed to export an embedded file named 'MyResume.pdf', which is actually a Windows executable. The embedded executable was detected by ClamAV as 'Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-6360728-0', indicating it's a malicious payload. The overall attack pattern is a lure to execute a disguised payload.

Heuristics 12

  • 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\\MyResume.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.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • 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.
  • /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.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
    • http://ns.adobe.com/iX/1.0/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/

Extracted artifacts 5

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
MyResume.pdf
aaf69485e391e77b2f216723743e3261ba1895fc623825e83b3e4de6e81fd260		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 35 at offset 0x93C0 73802 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-6360728-0
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
javascript_obj0036_000.js
df10d7f9b316af8ba2107477db994a3d0cd954b37b003f974bd535bb1e9612b5		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 36 at offset 0x140A1 57 bytes
icc_00_off00003aa6.icc
2b3aa1645779a9e634744faf9b01e9102b0c9b88fd6deced7934df86b949af7e		 pdf-icc-profile PDF ICC profile at offset 0x3AA6 3144 bytes
font_00_cff_off00000c19.bin
53d5055a49ceedab862566f2c4fb0920cb08eb2e3997e27c421b89575467fcb7		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0xC19 1356 bytes
font_01_sfnt_off00001c90.bin
917ce7f854dd5b1f8c51b5eda591e3cb901450249a239a2a5da65e29c9c010e0		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x1C90 10688 bytes

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