Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLS — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 9f57f9dcd76b5c85…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

373.0 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 176bc6d40c22e7a51471cdd795936be1 SHA-1: 37926c2e50f463eb566d0acbf8d6fa63fb9121e1 SHA-256: 9f57f9dcd76b5c85079d56d772f4949f01ca82c2fb6a2bc544a951744a3cadbd
160 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1204.002 Malicious File

The file contains a critical Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro with an Auto_Open entry, which is designed to execute automatically when the workbook is opened. The macro utilizes dangerous API functions, including 'RUN', indicating it's intended to execute arbitrary code. The presence of embedded URLs suggests the macro's purpose is to download and execute a second-stage payload from these external resources. The document also contains a lure to enable macros, a common tactic for bypassing security measures.

Heuristics 5

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings
  • 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 https://techserve4u.com/utlqwePl9XKr/alex.html
    • https://evershinesoftware.com/isei5Q7KlsQ5/alex.html

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
599707db4356dee9b1659b3a18ea6968bd26a6e750ede458308d788c900c5e21		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 5292 bytes

Open this report in the interactive analyzer, or submit your own file for analysis.