Malicious PDF — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 faa111c8d19669ed…

MALICIOUS

PDF

18.7 KB
MD5: 86988a739dac2f53dd2dac4becb02a48 SHA-1: eb8aac322d98f64451aab9e7b2d5b68fdff091e5 SHA-256: faa111c8d19669ed366ffd47db761c6f49d5ff6da163184794dd124ea5c4d78e
180 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1204.002 Malicious File

The PDF contains a launch action that targets cmd.exe, indicating an attempt to execute commands. This is further supported by the 'PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND' heuristic. An embedded script payload was also detected, suggesting the PDF is designed to download and execute a second-stage payload. The confidence is high due to the direct evidence of command execution targeting.

Heuristics 4

  • Launch action critical PDF_LAUNCH
    PDF contains a /Launch action whose target is an executable, URL, or UNC path — can start an external application
  • /Launch action target: cmd.exe critical PDF_LAUNCH_COMMAND
    PDF /Launch action specifies an executable target — references a known-dangerous executable (cmd, PowerShell, etc.).
  • Embedded script payload in PDF stream high PDF_EMBEDDED_SCRIPT_PAYLOAD
    PDF stream bytes contain script execution markers such as ActiveXObject/CreateObject, WScript.Shell, PowerShell, or shell-exec primitives. This is stronger than ordinary PDF JavaScript because it indicates a staged external script payload hidden in stream bytes.
  • 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.

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
embedded_pdf_script_0000431f.bin
940e5f02e2310c4fc80753ced0d62d7e95a29c43cdb38341149de6dd6355d42c
pdf-embedded-script PDF raw stream script payload at offset 0x431F 16996 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 2 shell/COM execution token(s).