Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a3d12fa938ad31a8…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:45:18 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2021-07-02
MD5: 610656d0733ad620be53577e32f24d36 SHA-1: f19a42f80b613d304f9134326921446cb64b9fe0 SHA-256: a3d12fa938ad31a89a7671fafcc86b6a512319704658ec1219cabd78b005edf4
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a critical indicator of malicious activity. This technique allows for the automatic execution of code when the workbook is opened. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN further confirms the intent to execute arbitrary commands. No specific family could be identified, but the execution method is clear.

Heuristics 3

  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6566 bytes
SHA-256: b0c6c7006887fa84e9cae42b836b39658a1f7ee47d37fa5b199932f52f1c4f01
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     17 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  DucOJbSl
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!F179 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - bTXGrJCpowe len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - dOliQmBx len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - GKvbyvLiJKgh len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - huAjNyt len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - KklkOQpoH len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - KoraGIoior len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MDaIkp len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - mHCihzZ len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - MpksAaB len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - OacssQukoOn len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PvggKNlldb len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PxpKvZvltrC len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QqVGRHPpGK len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - RuVfhYuHYZ len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - SvOBKZ len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - VIHrITJOGm len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vLLtE len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vSiQDWIeeqvQ len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - WjwOuOkl len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - ZJyXGjOlEoY len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ S
... (truncated)

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