Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c3ef9596c5bc2973…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.5 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:28:26 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: e243762ffcb82d6453466201aba5b7b7 SHA-1: 059eaf64ab28158bedca6014335a9e2ab74e5bd8 SHA-256: c3ef9596c5bc29733922c5c75bd0a553eaea2373ee010b82b707a115bec4ccdc
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file contains Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros, specifically an Auto_Open defined name, which is a strong indicator of malicious intent. The macros utilize dangerous formula APIs, suggesting an attempt to execute arbitrary code or commands. Without further deobfuscation or network activity, the exact payload and family remain unknown.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
ba36d4066ac72e709ce3aa091011c701d926da3d06b1d07328f40b6e5c4da072		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6562 bytes

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