Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c12c7ed47f6fb3b2…

MALICIOUS

PDF

719.8 KB Created: 2006-08-24 12:39:57 +02:00 Authoring application: Acrobat PDFMaker 7.0.7 for Word (via Acrobat Distiller 7.0.5 (Windows))
MD5: 7bf7819e5249e3ef8e894f4e6d625d7d SHA-1: 44fbba11c690f3970eac9ac45196375dee89da36 SHA-256: c12c7ed47f6fb3b243473a9976674192a90b010bf574521876bcf406d3819521
434 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This PDF file contains a critical PDF_LAUNCH heuristic firing, indicating it attempts to execute a command. Specifically, it targets cmd.exe with parameters that suggest it will change directories and potentially execute a dropped file. The PDF also contains a critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD firing, confirming an embedded Windows executable. The PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS heuristic further suggests that JavaScript is used to drop an attachment, which is likely the embedded PE payload. The embedded artifact 'High_Quality_Print.joboptions' is identified as a masqueraded executable. The combination of these findings strongly indicates a multi-stage attack where the PDF acts as a dropper for a malicious executable.

Heuristics 13

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • AcroForm button with action trigger low PDF_ACROFORM_BUTTON
    PDF contains a /Btn form field together with a SubmitForm/URI/Launch/JS trigger — this is the building block of fake 'Download' or 'Open' button overlays used in PDF phishing lures
  • 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.
  • Embedded URL info EMBEDDED_URL
    One or more URLs were extracted from the document. The URL itself is not a detection — see the per-URL labels for which channel (macro, JS, link annotation, document body, ...) reached each URL.
    URL http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdfx/1.3/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/

Extracted artifacts 9

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
High_Quality_Print.joboptions
92c1099a336b70e5880354bb469740551af654515aa5d5c09de8ad1b8f33cf14		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 23 at offset 0x2F310 15773 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 13 long base64-like blob(s).
pdf
24b89d24ae9ae1e0db2c21abfd0165b46aeb6fdc0f2dd7005e9256ac2059e326		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 1357 at offset 0xA8C1E 73802 bytes
javascript_obj1358_000.js
135d8ff085921b81e04dc360543078fa4091eb102c6c0edfa69b9c2e8675d290		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 1358 at offset 0xB38B2 49 bytes
font_00_sfnt_off0001a6bc.bin
22948cd0118f1a0cb1ebd69d760e67388d8a3b1aafaafb02bc628bb5bbe2cf80		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x1A6BC 31116 bytes
font_01_sfnt_off0002b732.bin
be6c6f3c13a02aa1424c956fc9f7bd093740c18ffe600f42587d605893a61658		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x2B732 11040 bytes
font_02_sfnt_off000699bd.bin
e444436c8e13d30d86353f4c6704a5627bb2245ed8a1dc1ba55722099afaed82		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x699BD 31448 bytes
font_03_sfnt_off0006d586.bin
d1c16a656ed769347aba28cd2496c8a38253bc120122208babc57d5ef90f1d0f		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x6D586 31116 bytes
font_04_sfnt_off0007101e.bin
0817ed3117be00d43776a2e85f8a72b277a78d4b1a895658fe2e313256a87e11		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x7101E 51880 bytes
font_05_sfnt_off00078874.bin
06713d7023efbea532d1391da338d5561dd0a320fa5db1cbccbf4f67307a2e6c		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x78874 62384 bytes

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