Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 bd9ebd687f3f16eb…

MALICIOUS

PDF

3.5 KB Authoring application: rxode (via va)
MD5: 08464df6c007e2e0a3c1943f8e3a47a4 SHA-1: 3e17902db1c03693bc46ad1d16747516af7a0cc8 SHA-256: bd9ebd687f3f16eb06c1899dafc49eb026786ada5bc06b3473f700a245b3f0fd
280 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File: User Execution T1059.001 PowerShell

The PDF file contains XFA (XML Forms Architecture) which is used to host JavaScript. Critical heuristics indicate that this JavaScript is hex-decoded and then evaluated, exploiting multiple Adobe Reader vulnerabilities including CVE-2009-4324, CVE-2009-0927, CVE-2007-5659, and CVE-2008-2992. This indicates the primary attack pattern is to leverage these known exploits to gain code execution on the victim's machine. No specific family could be identified, but the exploit chain is clear.

Heuristics 8

  • media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_4324
    PDF JavaScript calls media.newPlayer — CVE-2009-4324 is a use-after-free in Adobe Reader's multimedia plugin triggered by media.newPlayer(). Actively exploited as a zero-day in December 2009. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 critical CVE exact CVE_2009_0927
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.getIcon — CVE-2009-0927 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by Collab.getIcon() with a crafted argument. Allows arbitrary code execution. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 critical CVE exact CVE_2007_5659
    PDF JavaScript calls Collab.collectEmailInfo — CVE-2007-5659 is a buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long argument or heap-sprayed message field passed to Collab.collectEmailInfo(). Part of a series of Acrobat JS API exploits. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • util.printf — CVE-2008-2992 critical CVE exact CVE_2008_2992
    PDF JavaScript calls util.printf() — CVE-2008-2992 is a stack buffer overflow in Adobe Reader triggered by a long format-specifier argument. Widely exploited in the wild after disclosure. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • 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
  • 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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0004.bin
a1fcb39d7ea82d40e0098d41a6a8976214d6462f4f200b0c6e854910d763bd48
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 4 at offset 0xDA 11187 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
xfa_hex_stage_000.js
439bd1c8c5070ae9b29f47885474220d19b68a71bc218ff0bfc5309666a0fe82
deobfuscated-js XFA hex-decoded JavaScript (decompressed, direct) at offset 0x61C 4807 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 12 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).