Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 ef3da7fcd864d9ad…

MALICIOUS

PDF

8.3 KB
MD5: ef2e0c4e1c61cb69dba9cc83cdcc3a37 SHA-1: f9c82de51900b409eb7e80fc3385a0a3d3ea8a04 SHA-256: ef3da7fcd864d9ad107e9fc5bbe3dcdecc881378bc8281b48833293ff629fa24
214 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF file contains embedded JavaScript and triggers a critical heuristic for CVE-2014-0496 (app.addToolButton/removeToolButton). This indicates the file is designed to exploit this vulnerability. The presence of JavaScript and the ClamAV detection 'Pdf.Dropper.Agent-7321768-0' strongly suggest the PDF acts as a dropper for further malicious activity, likely downloading and executing a second-stage payload. The document body's content about weight loss on Mars appears to be a lure.

Heuristics 9

  • app.addToolButton/removeToolButton — CVE-2014-0496 critical CVE exact CVE_2014_0496
    PDF JavaScript combines app.addToolButton() and app.removeToolButton() with heap-spray shellcode markers — the public Adobe Reader/Acrobat ToolButton use-after-free exploit shape for CVE-2014-0496. (matched in decompressed stream)
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Dropper.Agent-7321768-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Dropper.Agent-7321768-0
  • unescape() call high PDF_UNESCAPE
    unescape() found — often used to decode shellcode in PDF JS exploits (matched inside decoded stream)
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream medium PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an HTML/XFA <script> tag without accompanying Windows shell-execution primitives — common in accessible XFA forms but worth surfacing for analyst review.
  • 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.
  • XFA form low PDF_XFA
    PDF uses XML Forms Architecture — can contain script logic
  • AcroForm button with action trigger low PDF_ACROFORM_BUTTON
    PDF contains a /Btn form field together with a SubmitForm/URI/Launch/JS trigger — this is the building block of fake 'Download' or 'Open' button overlays used in PDF phishing lures
  • Suspicious extracted artifact info 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.

Extracted artifacts 4

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
javascript_obj0005_000.js
01099dbdcc927b11c7e4f761a4ad2340a3d7cfdeee396e84ae1e8e8feccde8da
pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 5 at offset 0x276 4980 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 13 eval/decoder/string-building token(s).
stream_001_off0000182e.js
d1dfd457a2fdd3cec4091f689f39b85b35666aa5599ef3a8d5f9a80d1e2ce105
decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0x182E 1042 bytes
font_00_type1_off00001ccc.bin
c6bf78478c9c4dd5b3b86554d34c78f847f70af4118f9ff083c1fccf0e8e932b
pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (type1) at offset 0x1CCC 97 bytes
font_01_type1_off00001f53.bin
b749644b3e758e7335900ab2e7499eaa64b3a946849f1f8a0948287bdd96763d
pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (type1) at offset 0x1F53 144 bytes