Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a9d2651311e1fa6f…

MALICIOUS

PDF

3.5 KB Authoring application: hXr (via va)
MD5: b90af9c4360929e4e0da600107458f82 SHA-1: 503ae19d307acbabfdc989deb6de90a106cd00c2 SHA-256: a9d2651311e1fa6fe9e5e3e1f7ae705486fb7224e82499bbd7b192896e5d51e5
278 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File Execution: Malicious PDF T1059.001 Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript

The PDF file contains XFA forms with embedded JavaScript that exploits multiple Adobe Reader vulnerabilities, including CVE-2009-4324, CVE-2009-0927, CVE-2007-5659, and CVE-2008-2992. The script is hex-decoded and then evaluated, indicating an attempt to download and execute a second-stage payload. The presence of multiple exploit attempts suggests a high likelihood of malicious intent.

Heuristics 8

  • media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_4324
    PDF JavaScript calls media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 is a use-after-free in Adobe Reader's multimedia plugin triggered by media.newPlayer(). Actively exploited as a zero-day in December 2009. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • 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)
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • 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
embedded_file_obj0004.bin
66190588934026f31c1346a841a5c2b0708ad890743a7a86473d6694a679b2e3
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 4 at offset 0xDC 11289 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
xfa_hex_stage_000.js
a0d39f0f8018750cbca61f7df8157bf27ee9b0c65043a0166273734452f2d21a
deobfuscated-js XFA hex-decoded JavaScript (decompressed, direct) at offset 0x674 4813 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 12 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).