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

Static analysis result for SHA-256 cf2e350d6676ce9f…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE) / .XLS

76.5 KB Created: 2022-01-26 22:33:31 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel
MD5: b6bb31c970bb49140dcc9149367e3810 SHA-1: ab1a4168324969abfb3641faf94bd43081f87482 SHA-256: cf2e350d6676ce9fdc8bce89e689164061f190debb59d98c93b929926e46b1e0
322 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1218.011 System Binary Proxy Execution: Rundll32 T1059.001 PowerShell T1059.003 Windows Command Shell

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically an Auto_Open macro, which is a critical finding. This macro is designed to execute a command that leverages `mshta.exe` to download and run a second-stage payload from the provided URL. The ClamAV detection and the presence of embedded URLs further support the malicious nature of this document. The macro's intent is to download and execute a payload, aligning with common downloader tactics.

Heuristics 8

  • 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.
  • ClamAV: Doc.Downloader.EmotetRed02220-9938633-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Downloader.EmotetRed02220-9938633-0
  • Reference to mshta.exe high SC_STR_MSHTA
    Reference to mshta.exe
  • LOLBin token sequence in document text high SE_LOLBIN_RUN_COMMAND
    Extracted document text contains a Windows script/execution tool name (PowerShell, mshta, cmd, rundll32, regsvr32, …) within 220 characters of a dangerous flag, command verb, or URL. This is a visible 'run this' instruction in HTML/PDF/RTF lure bodies, or — in macro-laden Office files — the macro's own string-pool entries appearing adjacent in extracted text.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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://91.240.118.168/qqw/aas/se.htmlB
    • http://91.240.118.168/qqw/aas/se.html

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt
d9851f4d7e42691ffadd26fcd20866132ba5648d9aa93977dfd961152e294f53		 xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 4025 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s). Carved macro source contains an auto-exec entry point and execution/download terms.

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