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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 abc8d1097f0249c7…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .DOC

2.24 MB Created: 2022-08-11 14:34:00 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Office Word 14.0000 First seen: 2022-08-11
MD5: 933338ca2c25cfda5c124455216d6709 SHA-1: e518d12b7bb4addf1dc041a05575031890c1b4d7 SHA-256: abc8d1097f0249c749f2c7d7058be1b39c88e21d26d45d76985c989289565214
302 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1566.002 Spearphishing Attachment T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell T1140 Deobfuscate or Obfuscate Malicious Code

The OOXML document contains a VBA project with a renamed VBA part (word/OPlQOYjcCr.bin) to evade detection. It utilizes a Document_Open macro that employs GetObject and CallByName functions, indicative of a shellcode loader. The macro reads configuration from reversed document properties and uses auto-execution with memory API calls, suggesting it downloads and executes a second-stage payload. The document body explicitly instructs the user to enable editing and content, a common lure for macro-based malware.

Heuristics 9

  • VBA property-stored shellcode loader critical OLE_VBA_PROPERTY_SHELLCODE_LOADER
    VBA auto-exec macro takes the address (VarPtr) of a byte buffer decoded from a document property, marks memory executable (VirtualProtect/VirtualAlloc), and transfers control through a callback API (e.g. SetTimer/EnumWindows). The payload is hidden in the document properties rather than the macro source — the SVCReady loader pattern, a native shellcode runner rather than a parser CVE.
  • VBA project part renamed to evade filename detection high OOXML_VBA_PROJECT_RENAMED
    The VBA project is bound through the OOXML relationship/content type but its part is not named vbaProject.bin. Legitimate Office producers always emit vbaProject.bin; renaming it hides the macros from path-only scanners (observed in the SVCReady loader).
  • Document_Open macro high OLE_VBA_DOCOPEN
    Document_Open macro
  • GetObject call high OLE_VBA_GETOBJ
    GetObject call
  • CallByName call high OLE_VBA_CALLBYNAME
    CallByName call
  • VBA reads reversed config from document properties high OLE_VBA_REVERSED_DOCPROP_CONFIG
    VBA applies StrReverse to values read from the document's custom/built-in properties. Storing reversed configuration (URLs, CLSIDs, env-var names, payload names) in document properties keeps indicators out of the macro source — an obfuscation technique used by the SVCReady loader.
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains a VBA project — VBA macros present (project part renamed away from vbaProject.bin: word/OPlQOYjcCr.bin)
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings
  • 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://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingCanvas
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/math
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingDrawing
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/wordprocessingDrawing
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordml
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingGroup
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingInk
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2006/wordml
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingShape

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
16b3489c1d2f643ee81e287d78255774544cd1f00be2a1319bd79c94d490c594
vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 21137 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
e52de838fbf882c2a5e915099350e2dff9261e768de68088b80f4c87c4a75e94
vba-project OOXML VBA project: word/OPlQOYjcCr.bin 14848 bytes