IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 f8f782b7fca0552e…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

174.2 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 27d0b2e263e87aa65bc7756a51dcda5b SHA-1: 2d86e411d683fdc5e42d9224462ec5f6a532f226 SHA-256: f8f782b7fca0552ece30d0d8be455103d30e81817ca249d0453a1e6416e92f9c
268 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic for Applications T1059.001 PowerShell T1204.002 Malicious File T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

This XLSM file contains critical Excel 4.0 macros that utilize dangerous functions like REGISTER and EXEC. These functions are used to download and execute a second-stage payload from the provided URLs. The ClamAV detection explicitly names this sample as IcedID, a known downloader family. The presence of an Auto_Open macro further supports the malicious intent.

Heuristics 8

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 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.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA, REGISTER, EXEC, GOTO, HALT 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
  • Auto_Open macro high OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains vbaProject.bin — VBA macros present
  • 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.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 3 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • 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://83.136.232.110/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://185.212.131.194/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://190.14.37.247/44285,5327891204.dat
    • http://83.136.232.110/
    • http://185.212.131.194/
    • http://190.14.37.247/
    • 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 5

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
af618093826e7cd8f98cb2dae3fa7d9cae890be6efded60ec1d840363fc17149
vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 1066 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
faf62e9f12a7b764345f45df7990cd264ca742932123aa2311f15843cb753193
vba-project OOXML VBA project: xl/vbaProject.bin 13824 bytes
xlm_sheet_00.xml
6cf1b0d22a0329a8750bdd97f81d923f704ba07c9fab5043b6f099f8b9e8215e
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 3903 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_01.xml
d4b7c27cef36121e9a1cebb537b1497d6dbdefb54b4e63fb30fb0a139195f54c
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1619 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_02.xml
9fbf900cb2210fde894a240dc74a5d998ab7c73f2130162b2dc94ce5dd71d494
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet3.xml 1616 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).