MBSetup.exe appears safe. 76 of 76 antivirus engines report it clean. It carries a verified digital signature from Malwarebytes Inc. As a habit, only run files you downloaded from the official source, since attackers sometimes distribute trojanised copies of legitimate software under the same name.

MBSetup.exe is a Windows executable program, about 2.7 MB. Our analysis found no threat indicators for it. It carries a verified digital signature from Malwarebytes Inc. A file's name can be reused by different files, so we identify it by its cryptographic hash (below).

How many antivirus engines detected MBSetup.exe?

None — all 76 antivirus engines we queried report MBSetup.exe as clean. That's reassuring, though brand-new malware can briefly evade detection before vendors add signatures, so we also weigh the file's behaviour and reputation.

Is MBSetup.exe digitally signed?

Yes — MBSetup.exe carries a valid digital signature from Malwarebytes Inc, which confirms the file hasn't been tampered with since that publisher signed it. A valid signature is a positive signal, but note that malware is occasionally signed with stolen or abused certificates, so it isn't proof of safety on its own.

What is the SHA-256 hash of MBSetup.exe?

The SHA-256 hash of MBSetup.exe is 0b9465643cd2609856e7ebdebc34296670a2b388c2bcf6e5ee0b59430c97bf41, and its MD5 is c12892ce63fe1ece5eb0b551019f0b9a. This hash is the file's unique fingerprint — two files with the same SHA-256 are identical. Use it to confirm you're looking at exactly this file (not just one with the same name) when comparing against antivirus databases or a download's published checksum.

Is it safe to run MBSetup.exe?

Based on this scan, yes — MBSetup.exe shows no threat indicators and is properly signed. The important caveat is source: make sure you downloaded it from the official website or a trusted store, because attackers sometimes distribute malware-laced copies under a legitimate file's name. If your own antivirus flags it while we report it clean, that is most often a false positive, but verify the source before overriding your antivirus.

How up to date is this analysis of MBSetup.exe?

This report reflects the scan run on April 24, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of MBSetup.exe is fixed — but antivirus coverage improves over time, so a file that looks clean today can pick up detections later (and vice-versa). If you need the latest picture, MalwareTips staff can re-run the analysis from scratch.

File verdict·Decided by the MT AI Engine

Our call

Safe

Item: MBSetup.exe
Rating: 4.5
Author: MalwareTips File Scanner

Legitimate Malwarebytes installer signed by official publisher with clean scans across our antivirus network and typical security software behavior.

Verified · Malwarebytes Inc

Trust score92High trust

MBSetup.exe

2.7 MB

0b9465643cd2609856…430c97bf41

Antivirus engines

0 of 76 flagged

Code signing

Signed by Malwarebytes Inc

Age

First seen 3mo ago

MT AI Engine · Verdict analysis

The reasoning behind this verdict

The MT AI Engine weighs every signal from this scan — antivirus detections, sandbox behaviour, code signing, prevalence and historical matches — to reach a single, evidence-based verdict.

95%Confidence

Very high

Reasoning

The file matches all criteria for a signed commercial installer: verified signature from curated trusted publisher 'Malwarebytes', zero malicious detections even from tier-1 engines, no malicious runtime signals. Heuristics firing on process injection (T1055) and LSASS access are standard for AV installers to hook processes and scan system credentials. YARA rules are generic anti-VM/detection evasions common in protected software. Community notes confirm official download source, outweighing outlier malware tags.

Key signals · 5

Each signal cites a concrete token from the evidence the arbiter saw — engine name, MITRE technique, signer string, or an exact count.

signing.trustedPublisher.matched=true ('Malwarebytes')
engines.tier1Malicious=0 / 17 tier1 clean (Avast, BitDefender, Kaspersky)
prevalence.uniqueSources=2946 / timesSubmitted=3904
file.fileName='MBSetup.exe' + signing.signer='Malwarebytes Inc'
communityComments[0]: downloaded from official malwarebytes.com

Points in its favour

Trusted Malwarebytes signature
17 tier-1 engines clean
Common prevalence (2946 sources)
Official download confirmed in comments
No malicious sandbox verdict

Points against

Heuristic process injection (T1055) into svchost.exe
LSASS memory access pattern
YARAify 14 rules (generic anti-analysis)
Direct IP contact (16.145.101.152)

Recommended action

This is safe and legitimate Malwarebytes software. Run it to install if needed, or ignore/delete if not sourced from official site.

What to do now

This file looks safe based on everything we checked.

This file is safe to use.
Good habit: only download files from the official website or an app store.
Keep your antivirus and Windows updates switched on so you stay protected.

Threat family attribution

Sandworm ArguePatch Apr 2022 1 corroborated by 1 source

14 YARA rules
APT_Sandworm_ArguePatch_Apr_2022_1, Check_VBox_Description, DebuggerCheck__API

Runtime behaviour

What this file did when executed

This file was detonated in 1 sandbox and its runtime behaviour was observed.

MITRE ATT&CK

Adversary techniques mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

T1007T1010T1012T1016· Network reconT1027· Obfuscated codeT1027.002· Obfuscated codeT1027.005· Obfuscated codeT1033· Reads user infoT1047T1055· Process injectionT1057· Lists programsT1059· Runs commandsT1071· Remote server (C2)T1082· System reconT1083· Scans your filesT1087T1112T1129· Loads modulesT1134T1134.001T1213T1489· Stops servicesT1497· Sandbox evasionT1497.001· Sandbox evasion+8 more

Spawned processes

$(unnamed)

"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\MbamSetup.exe"

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\system32\services.exe

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k NetworkService -p

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k UnistackSvcGroup

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s StorSvc

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService -s W32Time

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s WdiSystemHost

$(unnamed)

C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe

+2 more processes captured.

Network activity

IP addresses1

16.145.101.152

URLs1

https://api2.amplitude.com/batch

Filesystem & mutexes

Files written13

C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\mbsetup.log
C:\ProgramData\mbamtestfile.dat
C:\Program Files (x86)\mbamtestfile.dat
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamtestfile.dat
C:\Windows\System32\wbem\repository\WRITABLE.TST

+8 more

Mutexes created4

C__Users_Bruno_Desktop_MbamSetup.exe
Global\OneSettingQueryMutex+compat+encapsulation
C__Users_azure_Downloads_MbamSetup.exe
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\C__Users_user_Desktop_MbamSetup.exe

Dropped payload

Files this sample writes at runtime

This file drops 2 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.

2 unseen

ede1645ea6d74ba2267a…6cea2aNever scanned
never seen before
3c3b166e33d1fdf710f0…51d9d8Never scanned
never seen before

External threat intelligence

1 corroborating signal from researcher-curated sources

YARAify HIT·14 community rules matchedView on YARAify

APT_Sandworm_ArguePatch_Apr_2022_1by Arkbird_SOLG
Detect ArguePatch loader used by Sandworm group for load CaddyWiper
Check_VBox_Description
DebuggerCheck__API
DetectEncryptedVariantsby Zinyth
Detects 'encrypted' in ASCII, Unicode, base64, or hex-encoded
FreddyBearDropperby Dwarozh Hoshiar
Freddy Bear Dropper is dropping a malware through base63 encoded powershell scrip.

Cross-referenced against MalwareBazaar (abuse.ch), YARAify, and the CIRCL hashlookup reference DB.

Signature matches

YARA & heuristic rule matches

A researcher-curated or high-severity heuristic rule matched this sample. These rules target specific malware families and are near-definitive.

5 YARAify3 synthesis

MITRE ATT&CK profile

Defense evasion× 1Cred access× 1C2× 1

YARAify (community)

Researcher-authored rules via abuse.ch

APT_Sandworm_ArguePatch_Apr_2022_1
Check_VBox_Description
DebuggerCheck__API
DetectEncryptedVariants
FreddyBearDropper

MalwareTips synthesis rules

Our own detection rules, applied to the scan data and sandbox behaviour

ProcessInjection
T1055
high
MITRE T1055 (Process Injection) observed — CreateRemoteThread / APC / reflective-DLL injection. The payload is being smuggled into a legitimate process to bypass AV hooks.
Evidence
C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k NetworkService -p
CredentialDumper
T1003 T1003.001
medium
Sandbox observed process activity targeting LSASS (Windows credential store). Legitimate software has no business reading LSASS memory — this is Mimikatz-shape behaviour.
Evidence
C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe
DirectIpC2
T1071
medium
Sample contacted 1 external IP address(es) and zero domains. Benign software virtually always uses DNS; no-DNS direct-IP C2 is a strong malware indicator because it bypasses reputation systems and dodges domain-based blocklists.
Evidence
16.145.101.152

Antivirus engine breakdown

0 detections across 76 engines

0 malicious0 suspicious76 clean

Tier-117 engines

0flag

Top commercial AVs (low FP rate)

Tier-241 engines

0flag

Mainstream engines with mixed FP rates

Low-trust18 engines

0flag

Heuristic / generic-AI engines (high FP rate)

All 76 engines report this file as clean.

Hash 0b9465643cd2… cross-referenced against 76 AV engines via our AV network.

PE forensics

Section entropy & packers

Section-level entropy and packer detection from the PE header. Nothing suspicious here — entropy is within the normal range for unpacked code.

ent 7.80Unpacked

Section entropy5 sections

.text

6.55

.rdata

5.99

.data

4.28

.rsrc

7.17

.reloc

6.72

0.0Packed threshold 7.28.0

Prevalence

How widely this file has been seen

Lots of people are uploading this but it's recent — typical of newly-released legitimate software. Low prior for malware.

Common & new

Unique uploaders

2,946

Hundreds of people have uploaded this — common.

Total submissions

3,904

Includes repeat uploads by the same source.

First seen

3mo ago

Apr 7, 2026

Prevalence quadrant

Rare · New

Targeted malware lives here

here

Common · New

Just-released software

Rare · Old

Niche or internal tooling

Common · Old

Trusted legitimate binaries

File identity

Forensic fingerprint

File biography

First seen (VT)

4/7/2026, 7:05:07 PM

First seen (MalwareBazaar)

—

Last analysis (VT)

4/23/2026, 11:15:55 PM

Scanned here

4/24/2026, 1:17:49 AM

File name: MBSetup.exe
Size: 2.72 MB
MIME type: (unknown)
Detected type: Win32 EXE
SHA-256: 0b9465643cd2609856e7ebdebc34296670a2b388c2bcf6e5ee0b59430c97bf41
MD5: c12892ce63fe1ece5eb0b551019f0b9a
SHA-1: 1c8e0ef2c2af8a6cc7763e87a3db307cf231df6d
PE imphash: 8c1be39b6ace6c7da85b7edd83bef6f8
First seen (VT): 4/7/2026, 7:05:07 PM
Last analysis (VT): 4/23/2026, 11:15:55 PM
First scan (MalwareTips): 4/24/2026, 1:17:49 AM
Last scan (MalwareTips): 4/24/2026, 1:17:49 AM
Code signer: Malwarebytes Incverified
Community reputation: -8flagged

Behavior tags

overlaypeexesigned

Frequently asked

Safety FAQ

Common questions about MBSetup.exe, answered from the scan data above.

MBSetup.exe appears safe. 76 of 76 antivirus engines report it clean. It carries a verified digital signature from Malwarebytes Inc. As a habit, only run files you downloaded from the official source, since attackers sometimes distribute trojanised copies of legitimate software under the same name.
MBSetup.exe is a Windows executable program, about 2.7 MB. Our analysis found no threat indicators for it. It carries a verified digital signature from Malwarebytes Inc. A file's name can be reused by different files, so we identify it by its cryptographic hash (below).
None — all 76 antivirus engines we queried report MBSetup.exe as clean. That's reassuring, though brand-new malware can briefly evade detection before vendors add signatures, so we also weigh the file's behaviour and reputation.
Yes — MBSetup.exe carries a valid digital signature from Malwarebytes Inc, which confirms the file hasn't been tampered with since that publisher signed it. A valid signature is a positive signal, but note that malware is occasionally signed with stolen or abused certificates, so it isn't proof of safety on its own.
The SHA-256 hash of MBSetup.exe is 0b9465643cd2609856e7ebdebc34296670a2b388c2bcf6e5ee0b59430c97bf41, and its MD5 is c12892ce63fe1ece5eb0b551019f0b9a. This hash is the file's unique fingerprint — two files with the same SHA-256 are identical. Use it to confirm you're looking at exactly this file (not just one with the same name) when comparing against antivirus databases or a download's published checksum.
Based on this scan, yes — MBSetup.exe shows no threat indicators and is properly signed. The important caveat is source: make sure you downloaded it from the official website or a trusted store, because attackers sometimes distribute malware-laced copies under a legitimate file's name. If your own antivirus flags it while we report it clean, that is most often a false positive, but verify the source before overriding your antivirus.
This report reflects the scan run on April 24, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of MBSetup.exe is fixed — but antivirus coverage improves over time, so a file that looks clean today can pick up detections later (and vice-versa). If you need the latest picture, MalwareTips staff can re-run the analysis from scratch.

Community classification

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.

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