Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e46bbb6d221974f0…

MALICIOUS

PDF

108.2 KB Created: 2011-04-01 12:03:11 +02:00 Authoring application: Microsoft Word (via Mac OS X 10.4.11 Quartz PDFContext)
MD5: 5bbfb6909eb4126edaa842815c807950 SHA-1: 76e936226d6d8f4aa47f97330d8c5184ffc873e5 SHA-256: e46bbb6d221974f00d1d3a0a759399fe901636cbb553cc8d31287d208f92c304
484 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

This PDF contains a critical PDF_LAUNCH action targeting cmd.exe, which is part of the CVE-2010-1240 exploit. The exploit chain also involves dropping an embedded Windows executable, disguised as 'test.pdf', which is detected by ClamAV as Win.Trojan.ShellcodeReverseTcp-1. The embedded JavaScript further supports the dropper functionality.

Heuristics 11

  • 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\\test.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • ClamAV detection on extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_CLAMAV
    ClamAV flagged at least one file extracted from inside this sample. Even when the wrapping document carries no AV detection of its own, a hit on the carved artifact is a strong indicator the sample is a delivery vehicle.
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • 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

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
test.pdf
1c92aeb45175c4ae8e2a3f361f3ef8dfae1530d67c3695cc6c3c8b07a3b51f42		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 28 at offset 0x100BD 73802 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.ShellcodeReverseTcp-1
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
javascript_obj0029_000.js
b1a09f919e0f5d1c1d284849c9af93bae6fd1411634dfdc491e126f9cd327f3f		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 29 at offset 0x1ACB4 53 bytes
icc_00_off000029c5.icc
eb03db58ff1f226c83103a11f30b5520f9b68a7ced67daa78992723e3ea0411d		 pdf-icc-profile PDF ICC profile at offset 0x29C5 1320 bytes
font_00_sfnt_off0000a558.bin
a0e656dedc3d993313640993871270ff439f0974df12fd7b7d37476b5a00403a		 pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0xA558 29108 bytes

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