Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a9f1d8febe57774c…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

109.5 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 14.0300
MD5: a5e155fb05a6456a11b7adf7579477a5 SHA-1: ac0d84f64b1a5f0db0f8c668febd18358f74ca7a SHA-256: a9f1d8febe57774cc181521ae34330433ea6570ef3d7fd05ae2a933c31009a37
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1204.002 Malicious File T1071.001 Web Protocols

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous functions like CALL and EXEC to download and execute payloads. The document body contains URLs that are likely used to host the second-stage payload, suggesting a downloader attack pattern. The presence of hidden sheets further supports the concealment of malicious activity.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (2 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: EXEC, HALT, FORMULA, WORKBOOK.HIDE, CALL 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.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 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 https://shapoorjipallonji.online/drms/ind.html
    • https://studio.joellemagazine.com/drms/ind.html
    • 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

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
477aeccaaa162efd32bb8acf28c472f6c70359e46f59213b79e20f048af0f34f
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet2.xml 3528 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
9f930289e13f67da399b0aeb5dc75db9b6d9febed2d1afb324c89cca03dce6a5
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 205645 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 shell/COM execution token(s).