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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 b489791c12320fd2…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSX

219.4 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 12.0000 First seen: 2022-10-04
MD5: 15a9125158b0cdab78f697e3ae0d8f64 SHA-1: c2e0a3b9b42b825e75cec7bcc13d36c4d669083f SHA-256: b489791c12320fd2d2d2aff96b972cb30ace89c0d80b0bf139039da6ba0b6f0a
108 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains an embedded OLE object, specifically identified as a Microsoft Equation Editor object. Heuristics indicate this object is anomalous and exploits CVE-2018-0798, a vulnerability in Equation Editor that allows for arbitrary code execution. The presence of a hidden worksheet further suggests an attempt to conceal malicious activity. The exact payload or execution method is not directly discernible from the provided static analysis, but the exploit vector is clear.

Heuristics 4

  • Equation Editor OLE object high CVE related OLE_EQUATION_EDITOR
    Embedded OLE object xl/embeddings/oleObject1.bin contains the Equation Editor CLSID, the legacy component exploited by CVE-2017-11882, CVE-2018-0802, and CVE-2018-0798.
  • CVE-2018-0798 — anomalous Equation Editor native stream high CVE likely CVE_2018_0798_EQUATION_NATIVE_ANOMALY
    Embedded Equation Editor OLE data contains anomalous native stream bytes consistent with a CVE-2018-0798-style Equation Editor exploit. This is treated as likely CVE evidence because the Equation object is malformed and payload-like, but it does not match the exact public matrix-overflow byte signature.
  • Embedded OLE object medium OOXML_OLE_OBJECT
    Document contains an embedded OLE object
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
ooxml_oleobject_00.bin
f667cc841f3c922d81d9d582afce94e59b24e255e2799b9f7816dec5e3ca2668		 ooxml-ole-object OOXML embedded OLE part: xl/embeddings/oleObject1.bin 3584 bytes
ooxml_oleobject_00_ole10native_00.bin
49e9878f65bd0a1eb63a8eda4718cf576d6aa79297f6de92610e05c7b4eb8207		 ole-package OOXML xl/embeddings/oleObject1.bin Ole10Native stream: Ole10naTive 1452 bytes

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