Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 afc6c360bd71b968…

MALICIOUS

PDF

468.3 KB Created: 2009-02-13 12:48:22 -08:00 Authoring application: Acrobat PDFMaker 8.1 for PowerPoint (via Acrobat Distiller 8.1.0 (Windows)) First seen: 2026-05-11
MD5: ec6d397e796300bc5a5086e21a362f83 SHA-1: 77d5ddc03dec7f906254abd0040cafc104864792 SHA-256: afc6c360bd71b968dc678703ecf7e51a87a347c80274e2020665eee3ad1a1291
684 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1059.007 JavaScript T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment

The PDF file contains JavaScript that triggers a launch action, exploiting CVE-2010-1240 to execute cmd.exe. This action is designed to export an embedded Windows executable disguised as a PDF. The JavaScript also contains URLs that suggest credential exfiltration or command execution, as indicated by the 'eval()' call and the decoded behavior 'credential_exfil'. The embedded executable was detected by ClamAV as a known trojan.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9950

Heuristics 14

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\i:\tmp\1.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact critical 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.
  • JavaScript action low 2 related findings PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • PDF JavaScript exploit cluster critical PDF_JS_EXPLOIT_CLUSTER
    PDF combines an executable JavaScript/action surface with exploit staging indicators such as eval/unescape/fromCharCode, XFA script content, or a related CVE pattern. Benign form JavaScript remains low-severity, but this correlated cluster is high-confidence malicious behavior.
    Matched line in script
    eval('$ans
  • Embedded JS stream low PDF_JS
    PDF references a /JS stream. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • Optional Content Group with action trigger low PDF_OPTIONAL_CONTENT
    Optional Content Group (layer) co-occurs with an action trigger — content can be selectively hidden from viewers or scanners while the action still fires on open
  • 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://www.zeustech.net/ In extracted file (i_mp.pdf)
    • http://]hostname[:port]/pathIn extracted file (i_mp.pdf)
    • tcp://77.122.222.199:4444In extracted file (i_mp.pdf)
    • http://site.com/calc.phpReferenced by PDF JavaScript
    • http://site.com/calc.php?exp=���In PDF document text
    • http://yourdomain.com/mail.phpIn PDF document text
    • http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/In PDF document text
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdfx/1.3/In PDF document text
    • http://site.com/calc.php?exp=Referenced by PDF JavaScript
    • http://www.apache.org/In extracted file (i_mp.pdf)
    • http://www.iec.chIn extracted file (icc_00_off00001331.icc)

Extracted artifacts 14

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
i_mp.pdf pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 1105 at offset 0x69ED8 73802 bytes
SHA-256: 048806cf1d2d78a5c4cd8eca3570f3c14aeded1dfc42c77fc608a6f7ace64135
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Swrort-5710536-0
Obfuscation or payload: likely
actual_type=PE; declared_or_context_type=PDF; filename=i_mp.pdf; kind=pdf-embedded-file Static shellcode analysis recovered the Metasploit stager connect-back address: 77.122.222.199:4444 (reverse/x86, public) Static shellcode analysis found candidate code region(s). Indicators: SC_PEB_ACCESS, SC_MSF_BIND, SC_PUSH_STRING Static shellcode analysis recovered API/import strings: kernel32.dll, advapi32.dll, KERNEL32.DLL, ADVAPI32.DLL, LoadLibraryA, GetProcAddress
javascript_obj1106_000.js pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 1106 at offset 0x74B11 55 bytes
SHA-256: 36234c503681564b610020290c2e8b357fe26b950e425d7601c1ead628ce5124
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
this.exportDataObject({ cName: "i:	mp ", nLaunch: 0 });
stream_071_off0002e2ab.bin decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0x2E2AB 491640 bytes
SHA-256: 68205f1c3f146b062e4d7780106926692ab5301031e80b9afadef65951da24c7
icc_00_off00001331.icc pdf-icc-profile PDF ICC profile at offset 0x1331 3144 bytes
SHA-256: 2b3aa1645779a9e634744faf9b01e9102b0c9b88fd6deced7934df86b949af7e
font_00_sfnt_off00038596.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x38596 34944 bytes
SHA-256: 620154d9ecaa5bb181e58f0c608768220111f0f4897857ff3a84812b8b4ef229
font_01_sfnt_off0003cd6c.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x3CD6C 32104 bytes
SHA-256: 7ab860c1284b19c702d02ff457ae4c68534ac7b7a77a4657841d831a5e7fcc81
font_02_sfnt_off0003f3e3.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x3F3E3 6144 bytes
SHA-256: 0b33fcc8c08f482278089f5766e59a5d47d3f2473cf3bc473663d57ebec59e9c
font_03_sfnt_off00040742.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x40742 44796 bytes
SHA-256: eac0371e1e47735dcf5c801c56d2ecaef6a04beb808e1f36bae28ee877287589
font_04_sfnt_off00045162.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x45162 48880 bytes
SHA-256: 279ce95d783f25347fdc73885d5c0dca1e2e66aa3450dbee5d5e2e6031f2e02b
font_05_sfnt_off0004a59e.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x4A59E 64212 bytes
SHA-256: 36839aa08cb45fd98ba052814fc4b5ef465d1ee9eca339140fdf6be64404a60b
font_06_sfnt_off00051e1e.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x51E1E 50188 bytes
SHA-256: 7b807c093e783c829dad69c6ba8d4633ddd07583bd5441119e7142d5f5da17b4
font_07_sfnt_off0005752d.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x5752D 35700 bytes
SHA-256: fe16804332b9d22da12cb9056f6647823f2b681621eea7b9bdcdfeca7b86d707
font_08_sfnt_off0005a18d.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x5A18D 36744 bytes
SHA-256: 0da5d833377b25d6d9f12684ea9fccb5a77df46ec895143da554fc762e51f1f0
font_09_sfnt_off0005d2ba.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x5D2BA 6032 bytes
SHA-256: fecdd3e4c12749eab449a48cac1aeab791f1bbd4c11c1d742967d6568729e71b