QBot — PDF malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 aaeab6df49cdf73b…

MALICIOUS

PDF

346.8 KB Created: 1970-01-01 03:00:00 +03:00 Authoring application: FPDF 1.85 First seen: 2022-12-23
MD5: b39945218c29be165c269639a89bc023 SHA-1: 29cea98ad3bce6fac9e6145228c8f9b86ae14352 SHA-256: aaeab6df49cdf73be33a364245fce6fb2aff29c3451d5c2e93ead79244c2bf0e
172 Risk Score

Malware Insights

QBot · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1566.002 Spearphishing Attachment T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF contains multiple invisible links pointing to a ZIP archive. The ClamAV detection and ML classifier strongly indicate maliciousness, identifying it as QBot. The primary attack vector involves luring the user to download and likely execute a payload from the provided URL.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.7493

Heuristics 4

  • Invisible/repeated PDF links deliver payload file critical PDF_REPEATED_PAYLOAD_LINK_LURE
    PDF uses invisible link annotations and points to a direct payload download. Repeated invisible links or lure-like payload names such as document/unlock/verify archives match malware-delivery PDF carriers where the page is only a prompt and the real payload is fetched from the linked URL.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Trojan.QBot-9982402-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Trojan.QBot-9982402-0
  • PDF paints image(s) but contains no text operators medium PDF_IMAGE_ONLY_LURE
    PDF has 1 image XObject(s) and the content stream contains no text-emitting operators (BT/ET, Tj, TJ, ', ") in either raw bytes or decompressed streams — this is the screenshot-as-PDF pattern used to bypass text-based scanners and to deliver instructions purely through rendered pixels. It is informational unless paired with invisible links or risky URI context.
  • 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://joanaghafoundation.org/docdir/DOC_KT7694.zip

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