IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 f1c54ccb6f3a1f17…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

170.5 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: dc0874278fb0f14461e6dd3191ddeb1a SHA-1: 883048af460e1835111ef958033ba682d3d80b38 SHA-256: f1c54ccb6f3a1f17d65d4f97544de38cc9898c1ec41b2b0a92089ef8b01f0ba0
240 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Service Execution: Visual Basic T1204.002 Malicious Link: Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, specifically utilizing the Auto_Open function to execute malicious code upon opening. The macros employ dangerous API calls like FORMULA.FILL, GOTO, RETURN, and EXEC, which are used to download and execute a second-stage payload from external URLs. The ClamAV detection explicitly names this as IcedID, a known banking trojan and information stealer.

Heuristics 5

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (2 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: FORMULA.FILL, GOTO, RETURN, EXEC 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
  • 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://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 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
de99fa97839e5d559ffd5543beb25297e16f5f1cc3e539445745354d3f480145		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 4771 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
ec666c9d225befa7b355659a9f4b1be9fc09d89a108ceccff5430c2c3d528ed9		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 2475 bytes

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