Analysis by: Raymart Christian Yambot
 PLATFORM:

Windows

 OVERALL RISK RATING:
 DAMAGE POTENTIAL:
 DISTRIBUTION POTENTIAL:
 REPORTED INFECTION:
 INFORMATION EXPOSURE:

  • Threat Type: Virus

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

This Virus arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

It does not have any backdoor routine.

It does not have any downloading capability.

It does not have any information-stealing capability.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 1,146,880 bytes
File Type: XLS
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 08 Dec 2025

Arrival Details

This Virus arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

This malware arrives via the following means:

  • Opening and closing Excel files which are infected by this malware.

Backdoor Routine

This Virus does not have any backdoor routine.

Rootkit Capabilities

This Virus does not have rootkit capabilities.

Download Routine

This Virus does not have any downloading capability.

Information Theft

This Virus does not have any information-stealing capability.

Other Details

This Virus does the following:

  • This virus infects Excel files as a macro module with the name "Kangatang".
  • It requires the following conditions to execute:
    • File is in .xlsx format.
    • Excel version is newer than Excel 2003 (version greater than 11)
  • It saves itself as .xls format and deletes the original .xlsx version
  • It disables runtime errors and Excel alerts to prevent user notification and disables screen updates to conceal its activity during execution

It does not exploit any vulnerability.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.800
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE: 20.646.05
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 16 Dec 2025
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 20.647.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 17 Dec 2025

Step 1

Trend Micro Predictive Machine Learning detects and blocks malware at the first sign of its existence, before it executes on your system. When enabled, your Trend Micro product detects this malware under the following machine learning name:

     
    • Downloader.VBA.TRX.XXVBAF01FF071

Step 2

Before doing any scans, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 users must disable System Restore to allow full scanning of their computers.

Step 3

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as Virus.X97M.MODFEK.R. If the detected files have already been cleaned, deleted, or quarantined by your Trend Micro product, no further step is required. You may opt to simply delete the quarantined files. Please check the following Trend Micro Support pages for more information:


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