Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e452a98ecea9c24a…

MALICIOUS

PDF

234.9 KB Created: 2004-08-17 12:05:39 -07:00 Authoring application: PScript5.dll Version 5.2 (via Acrobat Distiller 5.0 (Windows))
MD5: 1d10477003877034bbb205c7dc7e61bc SHA-1: 3274e55f94e949fa9bc15bab18087f45546299ae SHA-256: e452a98ecea9c24a08047f37aa417e82ef1619c01f275e71f35c57e6201d83e5
324 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript and an embedded PE payload, indicating malicious intent. Critical heuristics confirm a launch action targeting cmd.exe, exploiting CVE-2010-1240. This suggests the PDF is designed to execute arbitrary commands, likely to download and run a second-stage payload from a remote source. The embedded executable payload further supports this conclusion.

Heuristics 9

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\limiting.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • 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://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#
    • http://ns.adobe.com/iX/1.0/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/

Extracted artifacts 5

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0070_000.js
b0cd6ebec2108c8e3d208fe99e633848cd91f313c013ae18f2b0adb806dfc3be
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 70 at offset 0x3A74D 57 bytes
stream_022_off0002e0a9.bin
37121ecb7c1e112b735bd21b0dfe3e526352ecb98c434c5f40e6a2a582380cdd
decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0x2E0A9 114688 bytes
icc_00_off0001ada2.icc
2b3aa1645779a9e634744faf9b01e9102b0c9b88fd6deced7934df86b949af7e
pdf-icc-profile PDF ICC profile at offset 0x1ADA2 3144 bytes
font_00_sfnt_off000237fb.bin
347e6ebeed90cd31cd21935097d3033617cf1e750f4cb72886776f97748d0997
pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x237FB 18832 bytes
font_01_sfnt_off000294fd.bin
f0db46c42d1f01fbd11f1316e6bcdfd611f7c9c853a341231eefb272f11e30f8
pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x294FD 33904 bytes