Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 ef08d613257a985e…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

82.0 KB Created: 2021-02-03 15:28:44 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: f3e051fa1025a710b161983dcd4a5812 SHA-1: d8f38909976ccabcfdf9a059b5e25f0878cff17e SHA-256: ef08d613257a985e7090c1f874f765643560816ad1e2ccf84605c08be353b23a
248 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The file is an XLSM document containing Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous functions like CALL and EXEC, and contain WinAPI strings such as CreateDirectoryA and Kernel32, indicating an intent to download and execute a payload. The embedded URL http://cxqi18kvjti03rghgr.xyz/ff.gif is likely the source of this payload. The presence of a hidden sheet further suggests an attempt to conceal malicious activity.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 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.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: CALL, EXEC, 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.
  • Binary XLM macro sheet with WinAPI/download strings critical OOXML_XLM_BINARY_WINAPI_STRINGS
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet is stored as BIFF12/XLSB binary data and contains Win32 download or process-execution API strings such as URLDownloadToFileA, ShellExecuteA, or CreateDirectoryA. These strings are high-signal in XLM macro sheets and catch payload-download macros that XML-formula scanners cannot parse.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 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://cxqi18kvjti03rghgr.xyz/ff.gif
    • 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 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
aa6c376ce1a06f122365e4b5fa9f6fd0933f06089ad08376be48802aaa251c72		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 367010 bytes

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