Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 f5d727ba2db61bda…

MALICIOUS

PDF

221.5 KB Created: 2009-12-02 08:12:33 -08:00 Authoring application: PScript5.dll Version 5.2.2 (via Acrobat Distiller 8.1.0 (Windows)) First seen: 2026-05-10
MD5: 195360aa2c427b136cc6cfb25c3a7a61 SHA-1: eca6bc69b64324620b4510ac405be796371f9e33 SHA-256: f5d727ba2db61bdabc04941df9964f713199127fda52e38509d67d876339f2f5
584 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1204.002 Malicious File T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This PDF file exploits CVE-2010-1240 via a launch action that executes cmd.exe. The command-line parameters indicate that it attempts to execute an embedded PE payload. ClamAV detections confirm the malicious nature of both the PDF and the extracted payload. The embedded executable is likely a secondary stage downloader or dropper.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9982

Heuristics 14

  • Adobe Reader Launch action command execution critical CVE exact CVE_2010_1240
    PDF uses the Adobe Reader/Acrobat Launch action pattern associated with CVE-2010-1240: cmd.exe is invoked with attacker-controlled parameters, paired with an embedded/exported payload.
  • ClamAV: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-17559 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Pdf.Exploit.Agent-17559
  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • Embedded Windows executable payload in PDF stream critical PDF_EMBEDDED_PE_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain an embedded Windows executable with a verified PE header. Exploit chains often hide droppers inside ordinary streams rather than standard /EmbeddedFile attachments.
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target with parameters '/Q /C %HOMEDRIVE%&cd %HOMEPATH%&(if exist "Desktop\\pdf.pdf" (cd "Desktop"' — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded attachment masquerades: declared document, content is windows-executable critical PDF_EMBEDDED_FILESPEC_CONTENT_MISMATCH
    An /EmbeddedFile attachment's declared filename extension or /Subtype MIME type contradicts the magic bytes of its decompressed content. The attachment is declared as a benign document or image but the bytes are an executable or executable-bearing archive. This is a deliberate deception used to hide droppers in PDF attachments and is a generic indicator of embed-and-drop weaponisation, independent of any specific CVE.
  • /Launch action paired with attachment-dropping JS API high PDF_LAUNCH_PLUS_DROPPER_JS
    PDF combines a /Launch action with a JavaScript API call that writes or opens an attached/external resource — the canonical shape of the CVE-2010-1240 /Launch + exportDataObject family. Benign PDFs do not pair these surfaces; the combination indicates a drop-and-execute chain regardless of the specific JS API knobs or /Launch target.
  • Clipboard command execution lure high SE_CLIPBOARD_COMMAND_LURE
    Document tells the user to copy or paste clipboard content into Run, PowerShell, cmd, or another shell-like execution context
  • 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.
  • JavaScript action low 1 related finding 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.
  • Embedded file low PDF_EMBEDDED
    PDF embeds a file attachment — could carry an executable or another weaponised document as a nested payload
  • Visual download / call-to-action button lure low SE_DOWNLOAD_BUTTON
    Document contains a call-to-action phrase ('Click here to download', 'Download Now', etc.) — low-signal unless other findings point to a malicious workflow
  • 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 https://127.0.0.1:3780 In PDF document text
    • http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/In PDF document text
    • http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/In PDF document text
    • http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/In PDF document text
🗂 Part of campaign: 127.0.0.1 4 samples

Extracted artifacts 15

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
pdf.pdf pdf-embedded-file PDF EmbeddedFile object 162 at offset 0x324FF 37888 bytes
SHA-256: df0fc3036d9d7a34674225c8ff547fbdfc83b4d41c7101577a861acc4de0ea59
Detection
ClamAV: Win.Trojan.MSShellcode-6360728-0
Obfuscation or payload: likely
actual_type=PE; declared_or_context_type=PDF; filename=pdf.pdf; kind=pdf-embedded-file Static shellcode analysis found candidate code region(s). Indicators: SC_PEB_ACCESS, SC_STR_GETPROCADDRESS, SC_STR_LOADLIBRARY Static shellcode analysis recovered API/import strings: GetProcAddress, ExitProcess, LoadLibraryA, VirtualAlloc
javascript_obj0163_000.js pdf-javascript-stream PDF /JS object 163 at offset 0x37204 52 bytes
SHA-256: 43c541c654fef21cf523c77fa0bd58c79db84e77b5febae0582d6bdff7dc683a
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
this.exportDataObject({ cName: "pdf", nLaunch: 0 });
stream_014_off0000d689.bin decompressed-pdf-stream PDF FlateDecoded stream at offset 0xD689 4666 bytes
SHA-256: dca245cedcf22d5b26267e22d36eac9268cec5a9e9f27c8236eec5123a66a74f
font_00_cff_off00000d3a.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0xD3A 6111 bytes
SHA-256: b0c5c9e3163b7417b7ede0d8237d4fb0e25a00c9404f12156bea3c9f20d22c78
font_01_cff_off00002c8a.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x2C8A 5384 bytes
SHA-256: f4eeda6e5d2cb9bbcf05b224c5d7fae5cfdae199c52f025323300cbebe7f7a8b
font_02_sfnt_off00004394.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x4394 9080 bytes
SHA-256: 1d323dae2cd4830cc9befa2da6f0bda00ed884a90bb0e84badc369384ce1198e
font_03_sfnt_off0001b8cb.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x1B8CB 39160 bytes
SHA-256: 35565c6fad5feb01179aa012445c1466f551371c605de7e4af4175623451bf8f
font_04_sfnt_off00021519.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x21519 23776 bytes
SHA-256: 190305fcc6034e92e35594b4a7d887b23148a835a99328630372f1cfcf4fe41b
font_05_cff_off00023df9.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x23DF9 12355 bytes
SHA-256: 73f557a71b8ecfed208c3d13f501aa1c9568932c4a091b68351e88294f42051f
font_06_sfnt_off00026bfb.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x26BFB 5884 bytes
SHA-256: 67468f5cf48b0e46d6d125ca4955e7655cef9ec7d4c43f4fb86bff5c71daae6a
font_07_cff_off0002827d.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x2827D 5526 bytes
SHA-256: 0c6896733810b9242586ca373541c3ebdde6e5a91b53b588f7e687690fa1f0d2
font_08_sfnt_off0002984b.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x2984B 21736 bytes
SHA-256: 8e7b88b0245cd71bc38839e5fba3f7917a9a4065fb031442f6ee84a73775e8b3
font_09_sfnt_off0002b8fa.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x2B8FA 23480 bytes
SHA-256: 4c487e09361a14da36cfae1dc1a85eb0ef677e44026c076ec3bc08b79beb7afb
font_10_cff_off0002da9b.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x2DA9B 6968 bytes
SHA-256: 852f9f7434f94b437d2db4145a4c638f64baad01373c6ddef2ecae7dbd0dd920
font_11_cff_off0002f86b.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (cff) at offset 0x2F86B 3898 bytes
SHA-256: 8b5e0d718003c46a9c478822a887647f1e47ff4f5259855735ac812464d310d0