Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 b135f85a9d1b5d05…

MALICIOUS

PDF

40.4 KB
MD5: e44d22ce5ca884900efb6f2d0fc9203e SHA-1: 0e3247c5fbcded0e3f64c37e8d91a60a50ca40c7 SHA-256: b135f85a9d1b5d05c39bdebfbdeb46d90ebc1bcd6e8c78d8e54f0ca47dbdeea5
162 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File: User Execution T1559.001 Component Object Model Hijacking

The PDF file contains an embedded exploit targeting CVE-2010-0188 in Adobe Reader's handling of TIFF images within XFA forms. This exploit is designed to execute arbitrary code, likely leading to the download and execution of a second-stage payload. The ClamAV detection 'Pdf.Exploit.Dropped-90' further confirms its malicious nature.

Heuristics 7

  • Adobe Reader LibTIFF XFA image exploit — CVE-2010-0188 critical CVE likely CVE_2010_0188
    PDF contains XFA image data with an inline crafted TIFF payload and shellcode/delivery markers. This is the data-bound variant of the CVE-2010-0188 Adobe Reader LibTIFF/XFA exploit shape.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Dropped-90 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Dropped-90
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • PDF differential parser failed info PDF_DIFFERENTIAL_PARSE_FAILED
    The cross-check parser (pdfminer.six) failed on this file: PDF differential parser failed: PSSyntaxError. Static heuristics still ran and any of their findings above are valid; only the differential cross-check signal is missing.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0001.bin
f3be0199282be320a9e68922ebbbeae586b0ea5ba6c33324952bdaeb4e8be0a2
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 1 at offset 0x5B 13415 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).