Analyzing PDF Malware with PDFiD
When to Use
- A suspicious PDF attachment has been flagged by email security or reported by a user
- You need to determine if a PDF contains embedded JavaScript, shellcode, or exploit code
- Triaging PDF documents before opening them in a sandbox or analysis environment
- Extracting embedded executables, scripts, or URLs from malicious PDF objects
- Analyzing PDF exploit kits targeting Adobe Reader or other PDF viewer vulnerabilities
Do not use for analyzing the rendered visual content of a PDF; this is for structural analysis of the PDF file format for malicious objects.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.8+ with Didier Stevens' PDF tools installed (
pip install pdfid pdf-parser) - peepdf installed for interactive PDF analysis (
pip install peepdf) - pdftotext from poppler-utils for extracting text content safely
- YARA with PDF-specific rules for malware family identification
- Isolated analysis VM without a PDF reader installed (prevent accidental opening)
- CyberChef for decoding embedded Base64, hex, or deflate streams
Workflow
Step 1: Initial Triage with PDFiD
Scan the PDF for suspicious keywords and structures:
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