Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 abc895a87082d646…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

3.60 MB Created: 2021-05-10 15:56:02 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 15.0300
MD5: d1ba0ceaa5adeb465d9e6d7b996e7489 SHA-1: 8fa1f2c1e0df0f831a94533ed280a48d7611fccf SHA-256: abc895a87082d646bdeb8810d94cfa2b9197edc3dacae46ea443b026f42f254c
308 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The sample is an XLSM file containing VBA macros, specifically a Workbook_Open macro, which is a common delivery mechanism for Emotet. The script utilizes CreateObject to instantiate MSXML2.XMLHTTP and ADODB.Stream objects to download a second-stage payload from one of the embedded URLs. It also uses Wscript.Shell and rundll32.exe for execution, indicating a downloader functionality. The ClamAV detection further confirms its malicious nature and association with Emotet.

Heuristics 9

  • ClamAV: Doc.Downloader.Emotet-10019767-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Downloader.Emotet-10019767-0
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • Workbook_Open macro high OLE_VBA_WBOPEN
    Workbook_Open macro
  • CreateObject call high OLE_VBA_CREATEOBJ
    CreateObject call
  • Visible LOLBin command execution instruction high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Document contains instructions or visible command text involving Windows script/execution tools such as PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, or regsvr32
  • Suspicious extracted artifact high 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.
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains vbaProject.bin — VBA macros present
  • Environ() call (env variable access) low OLE_VBA_ENVIRON
    Environ() call (env variable access)
  • 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://meskot.org/wp-content/plugins/litespeed-cache/src/cdn/0Rek020ky.php
    • https://bay.mx/images/igfx9IW9M8o9.php
    • https://araitrade.com/dbi1vnDj.php
    • https://blockeddraincornwall.com/css/skins/blog/webcomic/css/vEufn1n9YA69Je.php
    • https://test399.estore.vlinkhosting.com/keO6l8CTVAVBY.php
    • https://plajmarket.com/test/js/masterslider/skins/black-1/jZUAv16TOpcKz.php
    • https://attendance.ehazira.com/bower_components/ckeditor/plugins/tableselection/styles/wCNDv2F8E.php
    • https://nellyfunerals.co.za/VKzdkfe8ufv.php
    • https://memeker.mobi/nbproject/QokpcNCVMat.php
    • https://consultoriaemimpermeabilizacao.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/charmap/SUn668N8oHZI.php

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
9f7df9f5601f9f74e71d2d45086b1ee8ef06d0d7d21bccaee705e71298a58897		 vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 2647320 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved macro source contains an auto-exec entry point and execution/download terms.
vbaProject_00.bin
a09eb21c6715e91ea2a6a123b008b496b918f154f3b8bc69740be0e9dc42feb6		 vba-project OOXML VBA project: xl/vbaProject.bin 5379072 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Doc.Downloader.Emotet-10019767-0
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely

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