Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 d9efafad6eef18d4…

MALICIOUS

PDF

103.3 KB
MD5: 1211b04b2ae7382f5c3e69deec5b452c SHA-1: 276526e03ce1194ffca944228cc6cc6e2b74d614 SHA-256: d9efafad6eef18d45b6a489df833e51c695930c01d646dd652983b9ad4ac4a16
168 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information T1059.007 JavaScript/VBScript

This PDF sample was flagged as malicious by an ML classifier with high confidence. Heuristics indicate the presence of unescaped content, ASCIIHexDecode filters, and embedded script payloads within an XFA form, suggesting an attempt to exploit PDF vulnerabilities. An embedded file, 'embedded_file_obj0008.bin', was also extracted, likely serving as the secondary payload.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

Heuristics 7

  • XFA form contains risky executable script high CVE related PDF_XFA_SCRIPT
    PDF embeds an XFA form whose script block contains exploit, submission/launch, or shell-execution primitives. Ordinary LiveCycle print/update scripts are left as generic XFA/JS signals unless stronger behavior is present.
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • 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
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_file_obj0008.bin
21f10ce4ec1c5206709c99a387dab34a7d73942a953139c44d71b69a1f8ca0cd
pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 8 at offset 0xE2 15010 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).