Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 d5a8e2a6ecce1b6b…

MALICIOUS

PDF

5.2 KB
MD5: 427969d213317e70b3b52ec9ae3cc281 SHA-1: f75421e27f14d46cf90c086ed4068eb0fa6545a3 SHA-256: d5a8e2a6ecce1b6b14b41563cdfaab455d67da9ff32208b11034be85ac094251
114 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript, indicated by the PDF_JAVASCRIPT and PDF_JS heuristics. The presence of ASCIIHexDecode and ASCII85Decode filters, flagged with exploit indicators, suggests an attempt to obfuscate malicious code. The ClamAV detection of 'Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178' further confirms its malicious nature. The embedded JavaScript is likely responsible for exploiting a vulnerability within the PDF reader to achieve arbitrary code execution.

Heuristics 7

  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-36178
  • ASCIIHexDecode filter (with exploit indicators) medium PDF_FILTER_HEX
    Hex-encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — often used to hide payload or shellcode bytes
  • 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.
  • String.fromCharCode low PDF_FROMCHARCODE
    String.fromCharCode found — used to construct payload strings dynamically. Common in benign JavaScript libraries for codepoint manipulation, so this alone is informational; weaponised use is also caught by the dedicated fromCharCode-stage and exploit-shape rules. (matched inside decoded stream)
  • ASCII85Decode filter (with exploit indicators) low PDF_FILTER_85
    ASCII85 encoding filter present alongside exploit delivery indicators — uncommon outside of obfuscation
  • PDF differential parser failed info PDF_DIFFERENTIAL_PARSE_FAILED
    The cross-check parser (pdfminer.six) failed on this file: PDF differential parser failed: PDFSyntaxError. Static heuristics still ran and any of their findings above are valid; only the differential cross-check signal is missing.