Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 d6f5109c44aef4e6…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

38.7 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-18
MD5: 713223a0dec7548cd8178a71037e1b8f SHA-1: 57fdeef0f7258a05a3b3a91d75148145785b67a0 SHA-256: d6f5109c44aef4e6b41a0a57985cc944e58f0e4bf667cb1d91a7ba55ff654141
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.001 PowerShell T1059.003 Windows Command Shell

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous XLM formula APIs like FORMULA to download and execute payloads. Specifically, the script reconstructs the URL "http://amautatravel.com/cgi-bin/WhWIic/" and the command "regsvr32.exe SysWow64\Windows\wnru" to download and execute a second-stage payload. The presence of these elements strongly indicates a malicious downloader.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (2 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Win.Malware.Agent-9993771-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Win.Malware.Agent-9993771-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 5 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
a0c0f3e40bb0bcb71f69feab4a546d6971a6ad22d842de019237e043f0081a43
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1772 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
2f8447d752b9aa82298eff83e8f17bd62a63f1ba62e6405681193f1dc7729f67
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4474 bytes