Malicious Office (OLE) / .XLS — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c94ac6548943c1f9…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

31.0 KB Created: 2020-12-08 14:01:06 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: 7c7dfa4acc8c7767eded7450a434a355 SHA-1: 2ee1b3d1376ca3c953fcf2385a478367be408b25 SHA-256: c94ac6548943c1f9a85ed599a81ce7fefa81092ee7ad9cce48b3d46a522a9773
160 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment

The sample is an Excel 4.0 spreadsheet containing an Auto_Open macro, indicated by the OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN and OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME heuristics. The macro utilizes dangerous formula APIs, specifically the RUN function, to execute arbitrary commands. This is a common technique for downloading and executing second-stage malware. The SE_ENABLE_LURE heuristic also indicates the document likely prompts the user to enable macros.

Heuristics 4

  • 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.
  • Macro/content-enable lure medium SE_ENABLE_LURE
    Document instructs the user to enable macros or editing — a common technique used by malware droppers to bypass Office macro security settings

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
f900942288b6734b646cf1070376e63f4e46e28e6f60e03558990f74c9e2ade1
xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 3530 bytes