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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c8495c8eae8978f1…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

109.5 KB Created: 2006-09-16 00:00:00 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 14.0300
MD5: 4ad650248591eebe6b20f402518f8c77 SHA-1: 0749fe33ce8669cb3595fbf72af968083b36fe6b SHA-256: c8495c8eae8978f1b0c1b62862283ba9a5b8fd5005b56a45d379e9e96fba19b1
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.001 PowerShell T1059.003 Windows Command Shell

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, including an Auto_Open macro, which is a strong indicator of malicious intent. The macros utilize dangerous functions like CALL and EXEC to directly interact with the Win32 API, enabling the download and execution of payloads. The document body text, while seemingly random, contains URLs that are likely used to fetch the secondary stage payload. The presence of hidden sheets further supports the concealment of malicious activity.

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: EXEC, HALT, FORMULA, WORKBOOK.HIDE, CALL 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.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 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 https://immobiliareneri.casa/drms/ind.html
    • https://gidbasket.com/drms/ind.html
    • 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

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
7d118572f5fe7d6ff43ed02ebd45ba65e8abef406e7a780baf6c364273fc6add
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet2.xml 3454 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
fbe5e7dbb69c9673a292262e360301ab1ec7a303eb74e3af592196e67c71385f
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 205673 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 shell/COM execution token(s).