Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSX malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e1a224ca47ea15f2…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSX

259.2 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-02-16
MD5: 80769da35291fd62315cf1b1d9f4cd6b SHA-1: 1eddca3a6955b620e8a188f39c39f8f0899a95b9 SHA-256: e1a224ca47ea15f2ecca4de1573c2efd47fa3f0cb47a031ac591f028f2c959dd
180 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious File

The file is identified as an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled document, a common delivery mechanism for Emotet. The presence of multiple XLM macro sheets strongly suggests malicious intent. The ClamAV detection explicitly names Emotet, reinforcing this classification. The macros are likely designed to download and execute a secondary payload, a hallmark of Emotet's infection chain.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 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. The macro sheet is stored as XLSB/BIFF12 binary content, which many XML-only OOXML scanners miss.
  • XLSB international XLM macro sheet hidden in .xlsx critical OOXML_XLSB_INTL_MACROSHEET_IN_XLSX
    OOXML package is named .xlsx but contains XLSB workbook parts and an international Excel 4.0 macro sheet. This hides XLM macro execution from scanners that trust the extension or only inspect XML worksheet parts. The technique is macro execution, not a document-parser CVE.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Emotet-OOXML_XL-af43432fbcb8603c-9980048-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet-OOXML_XL-af43432fbcb8603c-9980048-0

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.bin
6dad66092ffe5175fdc8eb6e987e7fd5c89a3c381f55274754c8a2e343cdc7b0		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.bin 2499 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.bin
055f5bb2c29e868cee3dfc159c6841fcc655420b4df0a87d4c2691b06955f7fd		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.bin 484 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.bin
08b5599d61a2e9c50ff199c5315ffd3c9c686e9760a55d20c43a81fc4b9600b9		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.bin 484 bytes

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