Malicious
This TCPOptimizer.exe is a confirmed malware dropper per researcher uploads to MalwareBazaar and 3 YARA rules, despite mostly clean AV scans and positive reputation.
0a49dc0d2ce725af34…332a5511e9The verdict, reasoned out.
Not a rules engine. The MT AI Engine reads every signal we collected, weighs them against history, and commits to an answer.
The file TCPOptimizer.exe has been around since 2021 with positive reputation (124) and no code signature, but our external intel shows a MalwareBazaar hit as confirmed malware and 3 YARAify rules matching (FreddyBearDropper, golang_bin_JCorn_CSC846, yara_template), pointing to dropper behavior that fetches more malware. Network tags reveal anti-analysis tricks like detect-debug-environment, via-tor connections, and WMI calls, common in droppers. Only Trapmine (low-trust) flags it maliciously, with all 17 tier-1 engines clean, but researcher sources override this to malicious. CIRCL notes a known-malicious listing from malshare.com, aligning with the bad signals. Do not run it—it's likely to download further threats.
- 17 tier-1 engines (BitDefender, Kaspersky, ESET-NOD32, etc.) report clean.
- Positive reputation score of 124.
- Long age: first seen 2021-01-09, scanned up to 2026.
- 71 engines undetected out of 76 total.
- MalwareBazaar confirms this exact SHA-256 as researcher-uploaded malware sample (first seen 2024).
- YARAify matches 3 rules: FreddyBearDropper (downloader), golang_bin_JCorn_CSC846, yara_template.
- CIRCL hashlookup hit indexed as known-malicious from malshare.com.
- Trapmine (low-trust) detects 'suspicious.low.ml.score'.
- Network tags show via-tor (C2 comms), detect-debug-environment (anti-analysis), calls-wmi, long-sleeps.
- PE imphash 6cce23cb7f6c7d69f3ef22e1fb2d232f seen in suspicious contexts.
Delete or quarantine TCPOptimizer.exe immediately using your antivirus. Perform a full system scan, change passwords if credentials might be at risk, and avoid running unsigned optimizers from untrusted sources.
FreddyBearDropper corroborated by 2 sources
- 3 YARA rulesFreddyBearDropper, golang_bin_JCorn_CSC846, yara_template
- MT AI EngineFreddyBearDropper
1 contradiction resolved by the scoring engine
3 corroborating signals from researcher-curated sources
- FreddyBearDropperby Dwarozh HoshiarFreddy Bear Dropper is dropping a malware through base63 encoded powershell scrip.
- golang_bin_JCorn_CSC846by Justin CornwellCSC-846 Golang detection ruleset
- yara_template
1 detection across 76 engines
Forensic fingerprint
- File name
- TCPOptimizer.exe
- Size
- 668.0 KB
- MIME type
- (unknown)
- Detected type
- Win32 EXE
- SHA-256
- 0a49dc0d2ce725af347df632539b70afcfd22b38e285920b515143332a5511e9
- MD5
- d8292150c8ce862a97a923318df07805
- SHA-1
- 917f917ff9fe33e199388e5e1d4c0696882d2991
- PE imphash
- 6cce23cb7f6c7d69f3ef22e1fb2d232f
- First seen (VT)
- 1/9/2021, 4:29:59 PM
- Last analysis (VT)
- 4/16/2026, 7:10:04 PM
- First scan (MalwareTips)
- 4/20/2026, 3:48:38 PM
- Last scan (MalwareTips)
- 4/20/2026, 3:48:38 PM
- Community reputation
- +124trusted
Reviews & malware reports(0)
Tell the community what you saw. Tag the sample — Trojan, Adware, False Positive — and share what the file did on your system. Your report helps confirm or dispute the AV verdict.