Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a8ed37c8ed4b7f1f…

MALICIOUS

PDF

11.7 KB
MD5: b78b3bd97d98647b398445cecfd2e6ae SHA-1: a3935d8c89ea232d340adbb1a27c48f46361d441 SHA-256: a8ed37c8ed4b7f1fb0eaa96bcfbfc15bd37d2e641f73c9fd0b34f9dc9bf9be10
126 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 JavaScript/JScript T1204.001 Malicious Link/Document T1071.001 Web Protocols

The PDF file contains a critical heuristic firing for CVE-2007-5659, indicating the exploitation of a vulnerability related to the `Collab.collectEmailInfo` method. Embedded JavaScript, specifically within the annotation subject and recovered as 'annotation_subject_callee_hex_stage_000.js', acts as a stager. This script is heavily obfuscated but is designed to decode and execute further malicious code, likely downloading a second-stage payload. The presence of multiple JavaScript streams and the specific exploit technique point towards a malicious document designed for initial payload delivery.

Heuristics 6

  • 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)
  • Annotation subject callee-key hex JavaScript stager high PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_CALLEE_HEX_STAGER
    PDF JavaScript uses syncAnnotScan()/getAnnots() to read an indirect annotation /Subject stream, percent-decodes it through marker replacement, then uses a callee.toString()-derived key to decode and eval the final exploit stage.
  • 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)
  • 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
9fd87306e37a04c361ea1b68a1cf4474b7a018e2270929a8c382cd129d8fc406
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 7 at offset 0x19C 566 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
annotation_subject_callee_hex_stage_000.js
283ac54733afb1cd7ac46c3eaefe347d0eecf57f193658e054039cfe54a53e8f
deobfuscated-js annotation-subject callee-key decoded JavaScript at offset 0x14A 4923 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 5 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).