Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 e8dc5b25c26271a7…

MALICIOUS

PDF

90.1 KB
MD5: 10a25e217a45ff61cecee71fbee27ee7 SHA-1: 6e736921095cfed65b61ebc779af2fc750288d2e SHA-256: e8dc5b25c26271a771ddc08820cbf710823e213a2288639eb8d55e6bc70a5afb
514 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript and a critical PDF_LAUNCH heuristic firing, indicating an attempt to execute a command. Specifically, the PDF attempts to launch cmd.exe with parameters that suggest it will download and execute a second-stage payload, disguised as 'template.pdf'. The embedded artifact is identified as a Windows executable by ClamAV, confirming its malicious nature.

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 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
template.pdf
cbfcc0c3abe77e06743b9b70bdb69ed2a21a5bb9bb8ee2b6d2dc661d676f3746		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 8 at offset 0x3B5 73802 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-7
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
information.pdf
458d7b90c7c516631b8caa5def413f4a27dbedcfb21ce25ca72827dad4cb1404		 pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 12 at offset 0xB5FA 73802 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-6360730-0
Obfuscation or payload: unlikely
javascript_obj0009_000.js
bc1d5cdfa608238e3cd965aa51949d02f8ab713463ea0beb61ec928b121788d1		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 9 at offset 0xB020 57 bytes
javascript_obj0013_001.js
8b0ebc7b0e1cede4093d4a2cff4236fdef5886d5d613f7cf861aec1ee37ead6b		 pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 13 at offset 0x1630F 60 bytes

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