Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 fc438967531e7815…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

235.4 KB Created: 2021-08-16 09:36:27 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 12.0000
MD5: 95662fdaa94bb3dba17ab7b08131d155 SHA-1: 99d3783e0d18aa751004b5e2202b4c659f5a04ca SHA-256: fc438967531e781548dce860bd837983caad758db7bbdaee7995372a1520f7b7
250 Risk Score

Malware Insights

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

This XLSM file contains Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous functions like FOPEN, FWRITE, and EXEC to write a script file to disk at 'C:\ProgramData\TInYOQFezY.sct' and then execute it. This indicates a downloader or dropper functionality, aiming to fetch and run a secondary payload.

Heuristics 6

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (1 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.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE, EXEC, 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.Trojan-a0425f7f2000faff-a0425f7f2000faff-9950268-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.Trojan-a0425f7f2000faff-a0425f7f2000faff-9950268-0
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 1 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://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships

Extracted artifacts 1

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
0280877848e3eda69db5d0a88240ddbf6e5104c27865af482b3b5c7274ce4255
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 706186 bytes