Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 ce0d9c576fc0a071…

MALICIOUS

PDF

6.8 KB
MD5: 8cd9a867d794d00d7f310618fa9fc7af SHA-1: 8bd21d752ef9dcd731bb5720fadd23e8420b7bdf SHA-256: ce0d9c576fc0a071c5bd4f8f564f1a31a979d7e0fc2d9fa7be92a929c8b7b989
94 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. The JavaScript is obfuscated and appears to decode base26 character pairs, subtract a constant, and then evaluate the result, likely to download and execute a second-stage payload. The presence of XFA forms and AcroForm buttons further indicates a complex document structure designed to trigger malicious actions.

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)
  • 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
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.
  • 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
67c543637aabbb5817e9eb6d84d5182be42ae9d84b5ff8d78b16fd0ea215dc21
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 3 at offset 0x409 15560 bytes
base26_stage_000.js
8f7f8714d3bb923d9b1f52e276f30d5842ec0a1bde014ed720596b6a92899a8a
deobfuscated-js base26-decoded JavaScript (decompressed) at offset 0x60D 5925 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 44 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).