Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 f89bb73e9a524751…

MALICIOUS

PDF

35.5 KB Created: 2018-06-11 09:16:09 -04:00 Authoring application: wkhtmltopdf 0.12.4 (via Qt 4.8.7) First seen: 2020-09-24
MD5: 9fa52d44e632ad61c1d501ae13e57d63 SHA-1: d1c1cca88546a629d0f496e64121f653c395f0e1 SHA-256: f89bb73e9a52475134d2b4412367386709fceed14e8d39b5de06fda00839e9cb
130 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

The PDF file was flagged by an ML classifier as malicious with a high probability. It contains embedded URLs, including one at offset 0x5B5 pointing to 'http://uncpbisdegree.com/download3.php?q=the-trauma-of-everyday-life.pdf'. The document body, though partially garbled, also contains references to this URL and appears to be a lure for downloading content. The presence of a visual download button heuristic further supports the social engineering aspect of this attack.

Machine Learning

  • Nyx PDF Classifier malicious score 0.9373

Heuristics 4

  • Fake 'free download' SEO-poisoning PDF critical PDF_SEO_FAKE_DOWNLOAD
    The ML classifier flagged this PDF AND it carries a visual download/call-to-action lure AND an off-domain server-side download-gateway link whose query string names a document payload. This three-signal conjunction is the fake-document / 'free PDF download' SEO-poisoning delivery pattern: the page is padded with benign decoy links to dilute classifier scores while funnelling the victim through the gateway to malware/scareware. Acting only on the conjunction keeps benign download-bearing PDFs from being misflagged.
  • PDF carries a PHP-gateway SEO-spam PDF link farm medium PDF_SEO_PHP_GATEWAY_LINK_FARM
    PDF contains four or more clickable links whose target is a `.php` gateway with a multi-word search-PHRASE document slug embedded after it (e.g. 'index.php?.../binary+options+trading+nz.pdf' or 'pdf.php/cialis-dosage-side-effects.pdf'). Legitimate PHP-served documents use a filename or numeric id, not a search-query phrase, so this is the generated SEO link-farm shape — pharma / binary-options / 'free download' spam that ranks for queries and routes users into payload/redirect chains. The PDF itself carries no exploit — the risk is the linked destinations.
  • 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 http://uncpbisdegree.com/download3.php?q=the-trauma-of-everyday-life.pdf In PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/download4.php?q=the-trauma-of-everyday-life.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://www.selfpsychology.com/papers/stolorow_2002a_trauma.htmIn PDF document text
    • http://traumastewardship.com/In PDF document text
    • http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/everyday-carry-of-trauma-medical-gearIn PDF document text
    • https://janinafisher.com/pdfs/dissociation.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://www.timberlineknolls.com/trauma/In PDF document text
    • http://proqol.org/In PDF document text
    • http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/vietnam/In PDF document text
    • http://everydayroots.com/In PDF document text
    • http://freedomeveryday.org/In PDF document text
    • http://hprt-cambridge.org/screening/harvard-trauma-questionnaire/In PDF document text
    • https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/trauma-focused-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/In PDF document text
    • https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/category/therapies/In PDF document text
    • http://www.bhsn.org/stress.phpIn PDF document text
    • http://www.questforlife.com.au/residential-program/moving-beyond-traumaIn PDF document text
    • http://traumadissociation.com/booksIn PDF document text
    • http://charlottekasl.com/In PDF document text
    • http://www.nicabm.com/trauma-three-ways-trauma-changes-the-brain/In PDF document text
    • https://www.bleedingcontrol.org/In PDF document text
    • http://www.emdr.com/In PDF document text
    • http://www.nvagt-gestalt.org/afbeeldingen/Vidakovic_Trauma_final.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://www.discoverylife.com/In PDF document text
    • http://integratedlistening.com/ssp-safe-sound-protocol/In PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/solutions-manual-modern-physics-taylor.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/sony-ic-recorder-px820-manual.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/study-guide-the-disappearing-spoon.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://riverside-resort.net/1/volunteer-card-design-psd.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/the-cancer-chronicles-unlocking-medicine-deepest-mystery.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://riverside-resort.net/1/victorian-america-transformations-in-everyday-life-1876-1915.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/statement-of-authorship.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/sport-psychology-concepts-and-applications-7th-edition-ebook.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://uncpbisdegree.com/1/study-questions-john-13.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://riverside-resort.net/1/waterboss-pro-180-manual.pdfIn PDF document text
    • http://www.ascendercorp.com/In PDF document text
    • http://www.ascendercorp.com/typedesigners.htmlIn PDF document text
    • http://www.pesi.com/In PDF document text
    • https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/think-act-be/201610/7-ways-survivors-can-grow-after-traumaIn PDF document text
    • https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-doesnt-kill-us/201201/what-is-traumaIn PDF document text
    • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-coping-fails/In PDF document text
    • https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/trauma.pdfIn PDF document text
    • https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-typesIn PDF document text
    • https://www.everydayhealth.com/ptsd/guide/In PDF document text
    • http://www.memorialhermann.org/locations/pearland/emergency-center/In PDF document text
    • http://www.memorialhermann.org/locations/In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839&CLCID=0409In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=246338&CLCID=0409In PDF document text
    • https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=868922In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=286759&CLCID=409In PDF document text
    • http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=617297In PDF document text
    +1 more URL(s)

Extracted artifacts 2

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
font_00_sfnt_off00004d79.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x4D79 11184 bytes
SHA-256: 47fa43876323cad2ce75b00d52db2ba0b262c40662ccd5120c368b3efc2050d8
font_01_sfnt_off000070b9.bin pdf-font-stream PDF embedded font (sfnt) at offset 0x70B9 6564 bytes
SHA-256: f2c55f702ae76b0ad66ad70f9045db81800cf4b54aace8829b4e3222b3d4b2ec