Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c82c48eeb648f37f…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

38.7 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-18
MD5: 09de9ca50e2ce5352710d536641a6e5f SHA-1: c4594c723ff54580b9d13e74d7fe42f2ac9bb27b SHA-256: c82c48eeb648f37f80794ed87b22386bcb690bddcd0551cc2eb69f79e8082085
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.005 Visual Basic T1218.011 Signed Binary Proxy Execution: Rundll32

The file is an XLSM document containing Excel 4.0 macros, indicated by the OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET and OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME heuristics. The macros utilize dangerous XLM formula APIs like FORMULA to download and execute payloads, as evidenced by the reconstructed URL "http://amautatravel.com/cgi-bin/WhWIic/" and the use of "rundll32.exe" and "regsvr32.exe" in conjunction with system directories. The script's intent is to download and execute a second-stage payload from one of the listed URLs.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (2 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Win.Malware.Agent-9993771-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Win.Malware.Agent-9993771-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 5 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
a0c0f3e40bb0bcb71f69feab4a546d6971a6ad22d842de019237e043f0081a43
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1772 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
2f8447d752b9aa82298eff83e8f17bd62a63f1ba62e6405681193f1dc7729f67
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4474 bytes