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PDF Embedded Exe

yara LOW Yara-Rules
community
This rule was pulled from an open-source repository and enriched with AI. Validate in a test environment before deploying to production.
View original rule at Yara-Rules →
Retrieved: 2026-05-12T23:00:00Z · Confidence: medium

Hunt Hypothesis

Adversaries may embed malicious executables within PDF documents to evade basic detection mechanisms. SOC teams should proactively hunt for this behavior in Azure Sentinel to identify potential stealthy malware delivery vectors that could bypass traditional security controls.

YARA Rule

rule PDF_Embedded_Exe : PDF
{
	meta:
		ref = "https://github.com/jacobsoo/Yara-Rules/blob/master/PDF_Embedded_Exe.yar"
	strings:
    	$header = {25 50 44 46}
    	$Launch_Action = {3C 3C 2F 53 2F 4C 61 75 6E 63 68 2F 54 79 70 65 2F 41 63 74 69 6F 6E 2F 57 69 6E 3C 3C 2F 46}
        $exe = {3C 3C 2F 45 6D 62 65 64 64 65 64 46 69 6C 65 73}
    condition:
    	$header at 0 and $Launch_Action and $exe
}

Deployment Notes

This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:

This rule contains 3 string patterns in its detection logic.

False Positive Guidance

Original source: https://github.com/Yara-Rules/rules/blob/main/maldocs/Maldoc_PDF.yar