Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e1312575a46b873f…

MALICIOUS

PDF

15.7 KB Authoring application: iText® 7.1.12-SNAPSHOT ©2000-2020 iText Group NV (AGPL-version); modified using iText® 7.1.12-SNAPSHOT ©2000-2020 iText Group NV (AGPL-version)
MD5: 69f50b012bd4d8fdf319d67bb33618a3 SHA-1: fdbd94ccd93d82a63cf01a82b06eb15fb4d211e6 SHA-256: e1312575a46b873f1518597abb6ee55f093a411a1f6213c809f6c5a84407c4de
94 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The PDF document contains embedded JavaScript, indicated by multiple heuristic firings including PDF_JAVASCRIPT and PDF_JS. The 'PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_HEX_EVAL_STAGER' heuristic suggests that the annotation subject is used to decode and execute a stager. The extracted JavaScript artifacts, such as 'javascript_obj0004_000.js', 'numeric_charcode_stage_000.js', and 'legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js', likely contribute to downloading and executing a second-stage payload. The exact nature of the payload is not discernible from the provided evidence, but the overall mechanism points to a downloader.

Heuristics 6

  • Annotation subject hex-decoded eval stager critical PDF_ANNOT_SUBJECT_HEX_EVAL_STAGER
    PDF OpenAction JavaScript decodes a decimal char-code launcher, enumerates annotation subjects with syncAnnotScan()/getAnnots(), turns dash-delimited hex bytes into JavaScript with String.fromCharCode(), and evals the staged result. This is an exploit-kit delivery pattern and not normal PDF form logic.
  • 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)
  • syncAnnotScan annotation-staging primitive low PDF_FOXIT_SYNCANNOTSCAN
    PDF JavaScript calls syncAnnotScan() — a no-op annotation-enumeration primitive used by exploit-kit JavaScript to stage payload reads from annotation /Subject fields before eval(). Not a vulnerable sink itself; rarely seen in legitimate PDFs. (identified after JavaScript deobfuscation)
  • 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 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0004_000.js
b8afb5a7ba8b476ad5f84dd9a65b418dfd42876e85210804f937d30afffac798
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 4 at offset 0x2B7 1858 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
numeric_charcode_stage_000.js
4718a27c2224fc36bf24f8e8e04598f1ad78adce4401c7be2708318738a6983d
deobfuscated-js numeric char-code string decoded JavaScript at offset 0x2C7 469 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
legacy_pdfkit_stage_000.js
0be39620d4258796ba3cea710099e4c6d711c0df8649cf2af9224d7fb3ffb576
deobfuscated-js repeated-marker hex decoded JavaScript at offset 0x1B4F 11963 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 eval/decoder/string-building token(s). Carved artifact contains 1 long base64-like blob(s).