Emotet — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e529fd95b1dcecc8…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

49.3 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300 First seen: 2022-03-15
MD5: 9b42f40f1e39ceb7785a12759c742c71 SHA-1: 63eb54fc4fa4858bb16865bab660c72f7efc0fb1 SHA-256: e529fd95b1dcecc8d4d4660cf3fe80f0cde0d8f17f2fcd58b23876d3eaa77d35
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

Emotet · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The sample is an XLSM file containing Excel 4.0 macros, specifically utilizing the dangerous FORMULA API. The macros are designed to download a second-stage payload from one of the provided URLs, reconstructing the executable name as 'regsver32.exe' and saving it to 'C:\Windows\SysWow64\ujg.dll'. This behavior is consistent with Emotet's known delivery methods.

Heuristics 6

  • 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.
  • 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: FORMULA 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.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03221-9941792-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Emotet03221-9941792-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 6 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 https://alinatourbg.com/mail/TBCGVNzLeENXb/
    • http://www.alsancaklimanemlak.com/system/T8nE1jfQ7W/
    • http://alsanjari.co.uk/alsanjari.com/CynW/
    • http://amasides.my.id/cgi-bin/uFqdwCqAP7mro/
    • http://alinac.ca/images/Lp6yKpIpRf6/
    • http://amakpost.com/assets/c8AT1uoCVLSxez/
    • http://alicehui.com/pics/fETgjDyPfUBQp/
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
561bd2ad03d5ff349d3a0a4fbda71b956dd8d97a0dbce4e25549bf8a7721c5df		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 4049 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
4f892349a6f0ce9450df5d764f02eea0a737d43225bc39e0b3e39eaafe266901		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 1276 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
f8dcec9dac216a8c4fc7140768d73598afe199c381abfb2f58ad13ed8f5733f6		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1152 bytes

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