PDF malware analysis — malicious · e627a63faf73d5fc

MALICIOUS

PDF

45.1 KB

MD5: 08833275cede126a571ce2ab8d2b746c SHA-1: 5c18f9b5531ba76ac45a4a48bae5790b08925fbd SHA-256: e627a63faf73d5fc2f63851c26e3e53c45743083c8c2c5ccece1dae4318fec53

514 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK

T1204.002 Malicious File Execution: Malicious File T1059.003 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Windows Command Shell T1566.002 Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment T1187 Exploitation for Client Execution

The PDF contains embedded JavaScript and a critical heuristic firing for PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND indicates that cmd.exe is executed with specific parameters. Furthermore, a critical heuristic for PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD confirms that a Windows executable is embedded within the PDF. The embedded executable is masquerading as a PDF file named 'template.pdf' but is detected by ClamAV as 'Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-7'. The overall attack pattern involves exploiting a PDF vulnerability (CVE_2010_1240) to launch a command shell that then executes the embedded malicious payload.

Machine Learning

Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 1.0000

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\\template.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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

Filename	Kind	Source	Size
`template.pdf` `ae7f0c97a4047f3b91420acfa510235137ed7ee4342665bc0d28a33b119077d8`	pdf-embedded-file	PDF EmbeddedFile object 8 at offset 0x3B5	73802 bytes
Detection ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-7 Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
`javascript_obj0009_000.js` `bc1d5cdfa608238e3cd965aa51949d02f8ab713463ea0beb61ec928b121788d1`	pdf-javascript-stream	PDF /JS object 9 at offset 0xAFB4	57 bytes

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