Is Bootstrapper.exe safe?
Adobe-signed installer with one low-trust detection and limited signer history.
The file is signed by Adobe and shows only a single low-trust engine flag. However, the signer has only one prior sample and community reports are split, leaving the risk profile uncertain.
0f8ccdf2162915f2d0…aa8803b4ef5d9bRecommended next actions
Before running
Do not run it until the source and publisher can be verified independently.
If you already ran it
Stop using it, scan the device, and watch for unexpected behavior or security alerts. Get a fresh copy from the developer's official site or an official app store.
Intelligence
The saved assessment, checked against the scan evidence and recorded coverage.
The reasoning behind this verdict
This section explains the evidence supporting the verdict and keeps conflicting or missing signals visible.
The file is signed by Adobe and shows only a single low-trust engine flag. However, the signer has only one prior sample and community reports are split, leaving the risk profile uncertain.
A single low-trust engine (MaxSecure) flagged the sample while all 16 tier-1 engines remained silent, which normally points to a false positive. The Adobe signature is verified and trusted, yet the signerStats record only one sample, preventing auto-trust. One similar Adobe-signed file was previously marked suspicious, and the sandbox recorded process-injection and direct-IP activity that the heuristics themselves label as inconclusive. These mixed signals keep the file in the suspicious band rather than safe or malicious.
What We Detected
75 engines scanned the file; only MaxSecure reported a generic Trojan label. The binary is signed by Adobe Systems Incorporated with a verified certificate. Sandbox execution showed MITRE T1055 (process injection) and direct-IP connections, but no malicious verdict was returned by the sandbox itself.
Threat Behavior
The observed techniques (T1055, direct-IP traffic) can appear in both legitimate installers and malware. No dropped children were flagged malicious, and the two inspected contacted hosts had no prior malicious reputation in our cache.
What To Do Now
Keep Windows Defender and other endpoint protection enabled. If this file was obtained from an official Adobe source, treat it as low risk; otherwise, obtain a fresh copy from Adobe’s site and compare hashes before execution.
Where this verdict could be wrong2 caveats
- signerStats.totalSamples=1 with 0 safe samples — insufficient history to auto-trust despite trustedPublisher match.
- communityComments contain conflicting researcher verdicts (clean vs malicious) on the same hash.
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- Verified Adobe signature
- Zero tier-1 malicious detections
- No malicious dropped children
- Common-old prevalence (4166 submissions)
- Single low-trust detection present
- Signer history limited to one sample
- Process-injection technique observed in sandbox
Exercise caution; obtain the installer directly from Adobe if possible and verify the SHA-256 before running.
Coverage & freshness
Complete means the check returned a usable result. It does not mean the file is safe.
Antivirus
Complete1 of 75 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Partial2 of 22 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete.
YARA
Complete2 signature or behavior rules matched.
External intel
Complete3 of 3 independent reference sources completed.
Behavior
Plain-English impact first, then the observed runtime evidence.
Runtime flight recorder
Capture complete- 1isolated sandbox run
- 21MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 15spawned processes
- 25network contacts
- 40filesystem & mutex artifacts
What this file does
Observed actions and their security significance
High concern: Injected code into another process, a technique that can conceal execution.
Moderate concern: Contained obfuscated or packed code that makes inspection harder.
Moderate concern: Runs hidden system commands (script or shell).
Moderate concern: Communicated over a common application protocol; malware can use this for command-and-control.
Moderate concern: Scans through your files and folders.
Moderate concern: Communicates over the network in a non-standard way.
Moderate concern: Checked the environment for virtualisation or analysis tools.
These are observed capabilities from an isolated analysis. A technique does not prove malicious intent on its own, and the file never ran on your device.
Attack story
Runtime observations grouped by analysis stage. Arrows organize the stages; they do not claim chronology or causality.
Input file
The submitted object
- FileObserved
Bootstrapper.exe
0f8ccdf2162915f2d056702e9df32c65e4ed2e0c0d5d5ea606aa8803b4ef5d9b
01Uploaded file
Processes
Runtime execution
- ProcessObserved
Observed process
"C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\Bootstrapper.exe"
02Isolated runtime analysis - ProcessObserved
Observed process
%SAMPLEPATH%\Bootstrapper.exe
03Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Files
Created or changed
- Written fileObserved
PDApp.log
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\PDApp.log
04Isolated runtime analysis - Written fileObserved
PDApp.log
C:\DOCUME~1\<USER>~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\PDApp.log
05Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Network
Hosts contacted
- Contacted hostObserved
54.209.22.103
Contact observed during runtime.
06Isolated runtime analysis - Contacted hostObserved
a83f:8110:0:0:700:700:2800:4000
Contact observed during runtime.
07Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
7 recorded facts from one runtime window. Every fact remains independently traceable in Analyst mode.
What this file did when executed
This file was detonated in 1 sandbox and its runtime behaviour was observed.
Adversary techniques mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
- 54.209.22.103
- a83f:8110:0:0:700:700:2800:4000
- 54.208.106.222
- a83f:8110:0:0:beac:bf78:cce1:d301
- 54.174.187.14
- 192.168.0.90
- a83f:8110:0:0:100:0:1800:0
- a83f:8110:0:0:a0b1:b403:0:0
- 20.99.132.105
- 23.216.147.64
- https://na1r.services.adobe.com:443/account/amfgateway2
- https://na1r.services.adobe.com/account/amfgateway2
- http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/authrootseq.txt
- http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/authrootstl.cab
- http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/A8985D3A65E5E5C4B2D7D66D40C6DD2FB19C5436.crt
- C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\PDApp.log
- C:\DOCUME~1\<USER>~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\PDApp.log
- C:\DOCUME~1\<USER>~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\Cab1.tmp
- C:\DOCUME~1\<USER>~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\Tar2.tmp
- C:\DOCUME~1\<USER>~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\Cab3.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER1FE7.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER1FF7.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER20B3.tmp.csv
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER20F2.tmp.txt
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER20B2.tmp.csv
- PDApp.log
- oleacc-msaa-loaded
- CTF.LBES.MutexDefaultS-1-5-21-1482476501-1645522239-1417001333-500
- CTF.Compart.MutexDefaultS-1-5-21-1482476501-1645522239-1417001333-500
- CTF.Asm.MutexDefaultS-1-5-21-1482476501-1645522239-1417001333-500
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- 9ed39a1ffbe21d81361e…dedd16Never scannednever seen before
- 2bc5288980dbc83899c0…15e541Never scannednever seen before
- 5c1a524fd7c256e2d22a…bc09a1Never scannednever seen before
- 2c972dbd28d37cf4a934…0059b2Never scannednever seen before
- f4bb7146e27a8c6e6d3a…25e04aNever scannednever seen before
- 9ae6a27e3bd4ca09edc0…6c3a87Never scannednever seen before
- 768b7921b28ba07bbd45…a15783Never scannednever seen before
- e74558fceca6aa2b6ee9…1fc325Never scannednever seen before
- c09a20c79bde9d35e027…3b5859Never scannednever seen before
- 968bebb01d95e4566f92…15c4bbNever scannednever seen before
Detection & Forensics
Consensus, attribution, signatures, code structure, prevalence, and identity.
Evidence integrity
Chain of custody for the facts preserved in this report.
- 2rule hits recorded
- 1 / 75engines flagged
- 2,828sources in submission history
Why these facts are shown
Each statement identifies whether it was directly recorded or derived from saved scan facts.
- 01
1 high-confidence signature or behavior rule matched this file.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSignature and behavior rulesObserved at - 02
1 of 75 antivirus engines flagged the file, including MaxSecure.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 03
The hash has a long, established submission history across 2,828 sources.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 04
Scanned file: Bootstrapper.exe — 0f8ccdf2162915f2d056702e9df32c65e4ed2e0c0d5d5ea606aa8803b4ef5d9b
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\Bootstrapper.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — %SAMPLEPATH%\Bootstrapper.exe
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
File written: PDApp.log — C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\PDApp.log
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
File written: PDApp.log — C:\DOCUME~1\<USER>~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\PDApp.log
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 09
Contacted host: 54.209.22.103 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 10
Contacted host: a83f:8110:0:0:700:700:2800:4000 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at
Detection sources at a glance
The available sources did not agree on a named threat category.
MalwareBazaar, YARAify, and CIRCL hashlookup completed and returned no entries for this hash.
Signatures and behavior heuristics
A community signature or high-severity behavioral heuristic matched. Signatures identify known patterns; heuristics are strong leads but are not proof on their own.
The saved runtime evidence maps this activity to MITRE T1055 (Process Injection). The mapping supports possible process injection, but it does not prove the exact injection method or the operator's intent.
Evidence"C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\Bootstrapper.exe"The sample contacted an external IP address directly and no application domain was recorded. Direct-IP traffic also occurs in legitimate installers and infrastructure, so this is supporting context only and requires corroboration from host reputation and other runtime evidence.
Evidence54.209.22.103 · a83f:8110:0:0:700:700:2800:4000 · 54.208.106.222
1 of 75 engines flagged this file
View all 75 engine results
Section entropy & packers
No high-entropy executable section or known packer signature was detected. Data and resource sections can still have high entropy without indicating packed code.
How widely this file has been seen
Widely seen in the wild for a long time. High prior this is legitimate; isolated detections on common-old files are usually false positives.
Fingerprint and provenance
- File name
- Bootstrapper.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- Signature valid: Adobe Systems Incorporated
- Size
- 2.4 MB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 2, 2026, 12:12 PM UTC
0f8ccdf2162915f2d056702e9df32c65e4ed2e0c0d5d5ea606aa8803b4ef5d9bSafety & FAQ
Complete recovery guidance and answers for the next decision.
What to do now
We couldn't fully clear this file. Treat it with caution.
- Recovery step 01
Don't run it unless you're certain it came from a source you trust.
- Recovery step 02
Check where you got it — an unexpected attachment or a random download link is a red flag.
- Recovery step 03
If its origin cannot be confirmed, delete this file and use a fresh copy from a trusted source. Get a fresh copy from the developer's official site or an official app store.
- Recovery step 04
If you're still unsure, scan it again in a day or two — detections often catch up on newer files.
Safety FAQ
Direct answers grounded in the saved verdict and evidence in this report.
Is Bootstrapper.exe safe, or is it malware?
What is Bootstrapper.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected Bootstrapper.exe?
I already downloaded and ran Bootstrapper.exe — what should I do?
How do I remove Bootstrapper.exe?
Is Bootstrapper.exe digitally signed?
What is the SHA-256 hash of Bootstrapper.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of Bootstrapper.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.