Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e80b89447cb518ea…

MALICIOUS

PDF

237.6 KB Created: 2009-11-06 08:22:50 +01:00 Authoring application: PScript5.dll Version 5.2.2 (via Acrobat Distiller 7.0.5 (Windows)) First seen: 2026-05-10
MD5: 31bcb78f7c03410e3797b4d5717cd7d7 SHA-1: f00a70fc7b89a9ae09a30c199372f606ea7e1455 SHA-256: e80b89447cb518eaa1a01a3c7a6d7ff28c37bb60b76fb95134c73a2cf476fe8c
576 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 a critical heuristic firing for PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND indicates that cmd.exe is executed with specific parameters. This execution is part of a chain exploiting CVE-2010-1240, leading to the launch of an embedded PE payload. ClamAV detections on both the PDF and the extracted payload (Win.Trojan.Rozena-131) confirm its malicious nature. The embedded executable is likely a downloader or dropper for further malicious activity.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9989

Heuristics 12

  • 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.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Tool.Agent-1388586
  • 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\\Whitepaper.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.
  • Suspicious extracted artifact critical EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • /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 1 related finding 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 tcp://172.16.13.54:4444 In extracted file (Whitepaper.pdf)
    • http://ocsp.verisign.com0In extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off000084f8.bin)
    • http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/In PDF document text
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/In PDF document text
    • https://www.verisign.com/repository/CPS��In extracted file (stream_015_off000155cb.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.comIn extracted file (stream_015_off000155cb.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/repository/verisignlogo.gif0��In extracted file (stream_015_off000155cb.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/CPS0bIn extracted file (stream_015_off000155cb.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/typographyIn extracted file (stream_015_off000155cb.bin)
    • http://www.iec.chIn extracted file (icc_00_off00004095.icc)
    • https://www.verisign.com/repository/RPA0In extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off00004c77.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/repository/verisignlogo.gif0�In extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off00004c77.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/CPSIn extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off00004c77.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/repository/CPSIn extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off00004c77.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/truetype/0In extracted file (font_00_sfnt_off00004c77.bin)
    • http://crl.verisign.com/ThawteTimestampingCA.crl0In extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off000084f8.bin)
    • http://crl.verisign.com/tss-ca.crl0In extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off000084f8.bin)
    • http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/CodeSignPCA2.crl0OIn extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off000084f8.bin)
    • http://www.microsoft.com/pki/certs/CodeSignPCA2.crt0In extracted file (font_01_sfnt_off000084f8.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/rpaIn extracted file (font_03_sfnt_off00012e6b.bin)
    • http://ocsp.verisign.com/ocsp/status0In extracted file (font_03_sfnt_off00012e6b.bin)
    • https://www.verisign.com/rpa0In extracted file (font_03_sfnt_off00012e6b.bin)
    • http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/CodeSignPCA.crl0In extracted file (font_03_sfnt_off00012e6b.bin)

Extracted artifacts 9

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
Whitepaper.pdf pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 82 at offset 0x36531 37888 bytes
SHA-256: 6f73e88983c3bd8db79d9e6ae978f2b8873ff6caeb01adff025b9a0e14c2d032
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.Rozena-131
Obfuscation or payload: likely
actual_type=PE; declared_or_context_type=PDF; filename=Whitepaper.pdf; kind=pdf-embedded-file Static shellcode analysis recovered the Metasploit stager connect-back address: 172.16.13.54:4444 (reverse/x86, lab (non-routable)) Static shellcode analysis found candidate code region(s). Indicators: SC_PEB_ACCESS, SC_MSF_BIND, SC_PUSH_STRING Static shellcode analysis recovered API/import strings: GetProcAddress, ExitProcess, LoadLibraryA, VirtualAlloc
javascript_obj0083_000.js pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 83 at offset 0x3B22E 59 bytes
SHA-256: 4f52907479f4ef9c8b2b8fbe36f26a0f97a16c75bb9d179084a84661d61571af
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
this.exportDataObject({ cName: "Whitepaper", nLaunch: 0 });
stream_015_off000155cb.bin decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0x155CB 11268 bytes
SHA-256: 99c1287736273511c7682c0e4f70eded84ec2f94cbc231c891107fe58ecd3b75
icc_00_off00004095.icc pdf-icc-profile PDF ICC profile at offset 0x4095 3144 bytes
SHA-256: 2b3aa1645779a9e634744faf9b01e9102b0c9b88fd6deced7934df86b949af7e
font_00_sfnt_off00004c77.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x4C77 23224 bytes
SHA-256: b724c8baae095275049bbea8d7207be339ea3c9bbeb903880850e8710b024238
font_01_sfnt_off000084f8.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x84F8 54632 bytes
SHA-256: 9e0398f1d7955b8b6335a2e97e63ca046fbfa131cdb275e3968ec5437aa5e667
font_02_sfnt_off0000e68e.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0xE68E 43752 bytes
SHA-256: 6bd9c8c954baaa5ff5dfd93e1f20f6fd8564ce856f0222dd7fb9f8f9d388b45a
font_03_sfnt_off00012e6b.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x12E6B 17520 bytes
SHA-256: 7dec7d165e260d58bf980f629149606f6603cca8a90c69f1e45ab53a09572f55
font_05_sfnt_off00032997.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x32997 14336 bytes
SHA-256: 85eb781b4eb9b88b11abcf6b3c0cee84b75d032fee7d6cff7b8de3469b339c4b