Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a45967933c2731e5…

MALICIOUS

PDF

12.6 KB Created: 2009-12-17 19:48:73 Authoring application: PDF Library 4.3.3 (via PDF Library 10.2.5)
MD5: 444d86a63dce24b37237055fc1d58983 SHA-1: 185196625e2140a96cdd346caecb95539cf4e026 SHA-256: a45967933c2731e550f8bb8cf9ecc275b6b906eac359fe190ffc2586699d5266
278 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.001 Malicious Link

The PDF file contains multiple critical heuristic firings indicating exploitation of CVE-2009-0927, CVE-2007-5659, and CVE-2008-2992 through embedded JavaScript. The JavaScript is obfuscated but static analysis recovered a deobfuscated stage (`legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js`) which was flagged by ClamAV as `Js.Exploit.Shellcode-18`. This indicates the script is designed to download and execute a second-stage payload.

Heuristics 8

  • Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_0927
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by Collab.getIcon() with a crafted argument. Allows arbitrary code execution. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • 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)
  • util.printf — CVE-2008-2992 critical CVE exact CVE_2008_2992
    PDF JavaScript calls util.printf() — CVE-2008-2992 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long format-specifier argument. Widely exploited in the wild after disclosure. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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_obj0007_000.js
b14d5a3460592ed6a58648e7f05e458dd60f454320c3367381421e733b819c16
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 7 at offset 0x268 38241 bytes
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
da3dc85e204e66c709990e741ec8c0193b2f7ee162772ebbf3f948f88e939fa1
deobfuscated-js numeric array subtract-key decoded JavaScript at offset 0x268 9880 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Js.Exploit.Shellcode-18
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 9 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).