IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 ec20cdaed754ef7f…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

173.4 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: c8afc3ca3dc9ed9c6b2c885d234df7be SHA-1: 77c6becbb9c5716c9931eedb87aa6cb8c0a74052 SHA-256: ec20cdaed754ef7fdf125b0d75462a2cd42c8410853ddd1b27e2c42cb9d4b081
268 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

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

The sample is an Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) containing critical Excel 4.0 macros that utilize dangerous API functions like REGISTER and EXEC. These functions are used to directly call Win32 APIs, enabling the execution of downloaded payloads. The presence of an Auto_Open macro and the detection by ClamAV as 'Xls.Downloader.IcedID' strongly indicate its role as a downloader. The embedded URLs are the primary targets for fetching the next stage of the attack.

Heuristics 8

  • 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.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA.FILL, REGISTER, EXEC, GOTO, HALT 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.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0
  • Auto_Open macro high OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains vbaProject.bin — VBA macros present
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 3 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 http://188.127.254.159/44283,9203350694.dat
    • http://45.150.67.233/44283,9203350694.dat
    • http://195.123.210.174/44283,9203350694.dat
    • http://188.127.254.159/
    • http://45.150.67.233/
    • http://195.123.210.174/
    • 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 5

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
9456119f4ad9ffbf394753b3270c4cc6771da38eb4b7a68a2e2db0e18d3b2def		 vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 725 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
96a4c076c231f55af87e70862a508afd265f594ed85afdd945ccfda6cbacc052		 vba-project OOXML VBA project: xl/vbaProject.bin 10752 bytes
xlm_sheet_00.xml
7cb36c4173ff698a6012f6dfd3257116b399f9beb0e02be12efe4e665ca582cd		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 3563 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_01.xml
a2ce2a9e42eae3aa14cd5f223f4b3b59e70988efdd370d2e091e70d8da44ea47		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1524 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_02.xml
c9074d5ab99827dff52b3ed1f36f3677541f7b56256a9ed95f057fdf5c783274		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet3.xml 1509 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).

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