Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a759db27a78084f3…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

50.5 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-14
MD5: b929b5b974c15d62eda5312d5db3b79d SHA-1: 63bd83676c17be185fe76f67e90ad7a96a1a9edb SHA-256: a759db27a78084f37e1939cdd2c4bb1817923f7713eab34e593f09b816d123be
290 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1218.010 System Binary Proxy Execution: Regsvr32 T1059.005 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The file is an XLSM document containing Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous functions like FORMULA to download and execute payloads. Specifically, the macros construct a command to execute 'regsvr32.exe' with a URL pointing to a payload, indicating an attempt to download and run a second-stage malicious file. The ClamAV detection and the presence of multiple suspicious URLs further support this assessment.

Heuristics 7

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03220-9941298-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03220-9941298-0
  • LOLBin token sequence in document text high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Extracted document text contains a Windows script/execution tool name (PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, regsvr32, …) within 220 characters of a dangerous flag, command verb, or URL. This is a visible 'run this' instruction in HTML/PDF/RTF lure bodies, or — in macro-laden Office files — the macro's own string-pool entries appearing adjacent in extracted text.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 6 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://actividades.laforetlanguages.com/wp-admin/WQNAwrWi77MV8a05fia/
    • http://aopda.org/wp-content/uploads/KXc3Agu18w/
    • http://advogadogoiania.com.br/wp-includes/VTz0V6D/
    • https://www.agenciaigual.com.br/Novo2017/yTZMu9FxcyHYFUkb/
    • http://consejosdeorlando.com/wp-includes/mMaIlj99Y1C1sYN/
    • http://agenciaml.com.br/wp-content/lMGfW5Wk09k/
    • http://101.53.142.76/ApcCache/FiXQvn/
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
b99514d31bf111baca7178f1c3b7e161c3a1df476cfbefb5ab0d85aee00a0f99		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4031 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
57ec544c624f64a940b22b418ecc97356699a87d8f5405ae8ca128da00e7393a		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1277 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
1a2bbba2a276f955ce94cee47252cbd0a00ecbdfcf526f95f8e33343bc612848		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1152 bytes

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