Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 cb3fa98216c42f56…

MALICIOUS

PDF

6.8 KB
MD5: 6cd193b699c5ac0ef21320e13a62013f SHA-1: 726ff5bb80a44762d8f6d1ea15d635f8951e7926 SHA-256: cb3fa98216c42f568b60c1143c0b324c547e2f9a80e5c53d1ade4451061f5341
132 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript that exploits CVE-2014-0496 using app.addToolButton/removeToolButton. This script is further obfuscated and decodes a base26-encoded stage, identified as 'base26_stage_000.js'. This stage is highly suspicious and likely responsible for downloading and executing a second-stage payload. The presence of XFA forms and AcroForm buttons with action triggers further supports the exploitation vector.

Heuristics 7

  • app.addToolButton/removeToolButton — CVE-2014-0496 critical CVE exact CVE_2014_0496
    PDF JavaScript combines app.addToolButton() and app.removeToolButton() with heap-spray shellcode markers — the public Adobe Reader/Acrobat ToolButton use-after-free exploit shape for CVE-2014-0496. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • 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.
  • JavaScript action low PDF_JAVASCRIPT
    PDF contains a /JavaScript action. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • Embedded JS stream low PDF_JS
    PDF references a /JS stream. Generic JavaScript is common in benign forms; specific dangerous APIs are scored by separate rules.
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • AcroForm button with action trigger low PDF_ACROFORM_BUTTON
    PDF contains a /Btn form field together with a SubmitForm/URI/Launch/JS trigger — this is the building block of fake 'Download' or 'Open' button overlays used in PDF phishing lures
  • 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://ns.adobe.com/xdp/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xci/2.8/
    • http://www.xfa.org/schema/xfa-template/2.5/

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0003_000.js
0539bb17cfe8beb0b4a6485955054b6b1ac151b77b09a8ea50649c708ccb55a2
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 3 at offset 0x409 15500 bytes
base26_stage_000.js
402cf594f27c99573be5ee6ab8cf8008ea4a8c80775410e7d5884866cb2b7629
deobfuscated-js base26-decoded JavaScript (decompressed) at offset 0x60D 5901 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 45 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).