Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a2a6f130dcade4fc…

MALICIOUS

PDF

5.2 KB
MD5: 4e7afdaa344678d15b3e82889b99431d SHA-1: 757c7d3f70a962d036a5df009e7c3aff704e9e1f SHA-256: a2a6f130dcade4fc94980302ef8fcca06f77bd0806b000f6c89c62b1cf0935ab
114 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 JavaScript/JScript T1566.001 Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment T1204.002 Malicious File: Malicious PDF

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript, indicated by multiple heuristic firings including PDF_JAVASCRIPT and PDF_JS. The presence of ASCIIHexDecode and ASCII85Decode filters, along with ClamAV detection as Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178, strongly suggests this is a malicious PDF exploiting a vulnerability. The embedded JavaScript is likely responsible for downloading and executing a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 7

  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • 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)
  • ASCII85Decode filter (with exploit indicators) low PDF_FILTER_85
    ASCII85 encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — uncommon outside of obfuscation
  • PDF differential parser failed info PDF_DIFFERENTIAL_PARSE_FAILED
    The cross-check parser (pdfminer.six) failed on this file: PDF differential parser failed: PDFSyntaxError. Static heuristics still ran and any of their findings above are valid; only the differential cross-check signal is missing.