PDF malware analysis — malicious · c0c8e072fb8fb558

MALICIOUS

PDF

16.4 KB

MD5: f1f2088ec49a2fdb1e7881a36866d223 SHA-1: 45497e7e6280d256527fe93c1ed4cbb009a41950 SHA-256: c0c8e072fb8fb5580700730cccba7cf9352bfcf24a9a461edb723afab3003806

234 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK

T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.001 Malicious Link T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF leverages the CVE-2007-5659 vulnerability by using a JavaScript stager embedded within an annotation subject. This stager is heavily obfuscated and uses techniques like String.fromCharCode with hex decoding and incremental string building for evaluation. The primary goal appears to be downloading and executing a second-stage payload, as indicated by the 'Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper' heuristic. No specific family could be identified, but the exploit and delivery mechanism are clear.

Heuristics 9

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)
ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION

ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-35901
Annotation subject callee-key hex JavaScript stager high PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_CALLEE_HEX_STAGER

PDF JavaScript uses syncAnnotScan()/getAnnots() to read an indirect annotation /Subject stream, percent-decodes it through marker replacement, then uses a callee.toString()-derived key to decode and eval the final exploit stage.
Obfuscated multi-stage PDF JavaScript dropper high PDF_JS_OBFUSCATED_DROPPER

PDF JavaScript shows 4 independent signals of exploit-kit-style multi-stage obfuscation: annot_subject_stage, hex_codec_loop, incremental_eval_build, repeated_pluginschk. This is strongly consistent with pre-2011 Adobe Reader PDF droppers — OpenAction JS reads encoded data from annotation subjects, decodes it through one or more hex / base-N loops, and invokes eval indirectly (method name built one character at a time). The actual CVE is hidden in the final decoded layer and is not visible via static analysis.
JavaScript action low PDF_JAVASCRIPT

PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
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.
String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE

String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN

PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (matched in decompressed stream)
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 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

Filename	Kind	Source	Size
`javascript_obj0009_000.js` `4718a27c2224fc36bf24f8e8e04598f1ad78adce4401c7be2708318738a6983d`	pdf-javascript-stream	PDF /JS object 9 at offset 0x3F39	469 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
`annotation_subject_callee_hex_stage_000.js` `bf926bed310fe6d99dcf73ed814d00d822f465f7218c0615b727473a22b37f30`	deobfuscated-js	annotation-subject callee-key decoded JavaScript at offset 0x19BC	5147 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 5 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
`legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js` `1ddbc3113c7eddb1c138d15f66d15128a167dead40b1a6a66886354d9dc0f054`	deobfuscated-js	repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1A10	11491 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).
`deobfuscated.js` `ede12453419884920c801606482da84ae5298be443453feba0d4c892cb35bc94`	deobfuscated-js	PDF JavaScript deobfuscation pass	91659 bytes
Detection ClamAV: No threats found Obfuscation or payload: likely Carved artifact contains 10 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 3 long base64-like blob(s).

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