Safe
Microsoft-signed Minecraft installer shows clean engine results, high prevalence, and contacts legitimate PlayFab services despite some heuristic flags on packing and MITRE techniques.
0fc1ded9a9459789b7…e7c8e2bf17The 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.
Zero malicious detections from strong coverage, combined with Microsoft's verified trusted signature, anchor this as safe under signed commercial criteria. High submission prevalence and age support commodity legitimacy, while contacted PlayFab URLs confirm expected game-service behaviour. Heuristics like process injection flags appear tied to sandbox observations (e.g., svchost/lsass processes) rather than confirmed threats, and YARA hits lack engine corroboration. Similar imphash priors were suspicious but lacked this signer strength.
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 ('Microsoft')
engines.tier1Malicious=0 / 17 tier1 clean (Avast/AVG/Avira/BitDefender/etc.)
prevalence: 36404 submissions / common_old
contactedUrls: 'https://b7b52.playfabapi.com' (PlayFab, MS gaming backend)
filenameAnalysis.hasInstallerHint=true ('MinecraftInstaller.exe')
- 0/70 engines malicious, 17 tier1 clean
- signing: Microsoft trustedPublisher.matched
- prevalence: common_old (36k submissions)
- No malicious sandbox/dropped children/hosts
- hasInstallerHint=true, PlayFab game backend contacts
- High code entropy (7.495) and likelyPacked=true
- triggeredHeuristics: ProcessInjection (T1055), CredentialDumper (LSASS)
- externalIntel.yaraify.ruleCount=15 including debugger/PowerShell rules
- similarHashes: 3 suspicious priors by imphash
- behaviour: direct IP contacts (16 IPs, though domain-resolved)
- tags: detect-debug-environment, long-sleeps
This file is safe to run, consistent with legitimate Microsoft-signed Minecraft software. Always download installers from official Mojang/Microsoft sites to ensure authenticity.
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.
adonunix2 corroborated by 1 source
- 15 YARA rulesadonunix2, BitcoinAddress, DebuggerCheck__API
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.
- 20.42.183.39
- 20.42.182.104
- 20.99.133.109
- 184.27.218.92
- 23.55.140.42
- 20.96.153.111
- 23.196.145.221
- 20.42.183.33
- 23.32.75.164
- 20.69.140.28
- https://b7b52.playfabapi.com:443/Client/LoginWithCustomID?sdk=CSharpSDK-1.108.220118
- https://b7b52.playfabapi.com/Client/LoginWithCustomID?sdk=CSharpSDK-1.108.220118
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\MinecraftInstaller\deviceId.txt
- C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\FontCache\Fonts\Download-1.tmp
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\MinecraftInstaller
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\MinecraftInstaller\deviceId.txt
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming
- C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Crypto\Keys\de7cf8a7901d2ad13e5c67c29e5d1662_cbbb49d6-b7ff-44ca-aba5-8a5e250d4d42
- C898CC08-5DBF-4405-A5A1-4910C775BA15
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\C898CC08-5DBF-4405-A5A1-4910C775BA15
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\__DDrawExclMode__
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\__DDrawCheckExclMode__
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- 27aaeea467a640cb0c6e…e7c824Never scannednever seen before
- 26ab16c42676d51a31b7…949f10Never scannednever seen before
- 5134fe13cd6babc5e6eb…6e04d1Never scannednever seen before
- 1b25ba760ec5f766abad…a24a37Never scannednever seen before
- 63f59089f0964e819e55…2294d1Never scannednever seen before
- 107a402e4c346779e781…6651b8Never scannednever seen before
- b0014c02ae0f527cb6e6…f1006aNever scannednever seen before
- ca27bba98d1323a75fb2…58109cNever scannednever seen before
- 248104811b883f53f176…8b8a29Never scannednever seen before
- a7d4d7270f2b33811a41…74252aNever scannednever seen before
1 corroborating signal from researcher-curated sources
- adonunix2by Tim Brown @timb_machineAD on UNIX
- BitcoinAddressby Didier Stevens (@DidierStevens)Contains a valid Bitcoin address
- DebuggerCheck__API
- DebuggerCheck__QueryInfo
- Detect_PowerShell_Obfuscationby daniyyellDetects obfuscated PowerShell commands commonly used in malicious scripts.
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.
- adonunix2
- BitcoinAddress
- DebuggerCheck__API
- DebuggerCheck__QueryInfo
- Detect_PowerShell_Obfuscation
MITRE T1055 (Process Injection) observed — CreateRemoteThread / APC / reflective-DLL injection. The payload is being smuggled into a legitimate process to bypass AV hooks.
EvidenceC:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k NetworkService -pSandbox observed process activity targeting LSASS (Windows credential store). Legitimate software has no business reading LSASS memory — this is Mimikatz-shape behaviour.
EvidenceC:\Windows\system32\lsass.exeSample contacted 16 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.
Evidence20.42.183.39 · 20.42.182.104 · 20.99.133.109
0 detections across 74 engines
Section entropy & packers
Executable sections have high entropy (7.2+) — the code is compressed or encrypted and only decrypted at runtime. Classic packing behaviour.
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.
Forensic fingerprint
- File name
- MinecraftInstaller.exe
- Size
- 32.34 MB
- MIME type
- (unknown)
- Detected type
- Win32 EXE
- SHA-256
- 0fc1ded9a9459789b76104275682e603868181a0e1928ec0681810e7c8e2bf17
- MD5
- afc010d82c412d72c66f51768671a976
- SHA-1
- 5069c9d61d180af0ed8924cb951423fc4ca74511
- PE imphash
- f34d5f2d4577ed6d9ceec516c1f5a744
- First seen (VT)
- 4/10/2025, 1:56:59 PM
- Last analysis (VT)
- 5/2/2026, 11:22:43 AM
- First scan (MalwareTips)
- 5/2/2026, 11:30:13 AM
- Last scan (MalwareTips)
- 5/2/2026, 11:30:13 AM
- Code signer
- Microsoft Corporationverified
- Community reputation
- +11trusted
Safety FAQ
Common questions about MinecraftInstaller.exe, answered from the scan data above.
- MinecraftInstaller.exe appears safe. 74 of 74 antivirus engines report it clean. It carries a verified digital signature from Microsoft Corporation. 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.
- MinecraftInstaller.exe is a Windows executable program, about 32.3 MB. Our analysis found no threat indicators for it. It carries a verified digital signature from Microsoft Corporation. A file's name can be reused by different files, so we identify it by its cryptographic hash (below).
- None — all 74 antivirus engines we queried report MinecraftInstaller.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 — MinecraftInstaller.exe carries a valid digital signature from Microsoft Corporation, 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 MinecraftInstaller.exe is 0fc1ded9a9459789b76104275682e603868181a0e1928ec0681810e7c8e2bf17, and its MD5 is afc010d82c412d72c66f51768671a976. 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 — MinecraftInstaller.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 May 2, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of MinecraftInstaller.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.
Reviews & malware reports(0)
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