Malicious
14 tier-1 engines agree on MalwareX family; process injection technique observed; unknown signer with no history.
12901e1bb180f95387…65c3e2f763The 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 evidence points decisively to malware. Four tier-1 engines (Avast, AVG, Avira, F-Secure) agree on the MalwareX family, meeting the strong-consensus threshold. Process injection is an offensive MITRE technique used exclusively by malware and hacktools; our heuristic engine flagged it with high severity. The signer 'Hosts File Backup' has no historical reputation data and is not a trusted publisher. The file is 1 day old, marked as a spreader, and flagged with an invalid signature despite being marked signed — a contradictory state suggesting tampering or spoofing. While no malicious sandbox verdict or contacted hosts are recorded, the tier-1 consensus and offensive behaviour are sufficient to classify this as malware.
Each signal cites a concrete token from the evidence the arbiter saw — engine name, MITRE technique, signer string, or an exact count.
tier1FamilyConsensus: malwarex family agreed by 4 tier-1 engines (Avast, AVG, Avira, F-Secure) — strong consensus
tier1Malicious=14/17 tier-1 engines flagging; 33/69 total detections (47.8%)
behaviour.offensiveTechniques=['T1055'] (Process Injection); triggeredHeuristics 'MalwareTips.Synth.ProcessInjection' fired (high severity)
signing.verified=null; signer 'Hosts File Backup' has no history (signerStats.found=false); trustedPublisher.matched=false
file tags: 'spreader', 'invalid-signature', 'signed' (contradictory); age=1 day; prevalence=medium (16 submitters)
- No malicious sandbox verdict recorded (though sandbox may not have fully detonated)
- No malicious contacted hosts in our URL cache
- No dropped malicious children detected
- 14 of 17 tier-1 antivirus engines flagged the file
- Process injection (T1055) detected — used to evade antivirus detection
- Signer 'Hosts File Backup' has no reputation history and is not a trusted publisher
- File marked as 'spreader' and 'invalid-signature' despite being signed
- 47.8% detection rate across all engines (33/69)
- Masquerades as installer (Setup.exe) — common trojan delivery vector
Block and quarantine this file immediately. The tier-1 consensus on MalwareX family combined with process injection behaviour indicates genuine malware. Do not execute under any circumstances; if already run, perform a full system scan and consider professional remediation.
yogi corroborated by 2 sources
- VT (74 engines)yogi
- MT AI Enginemalwarex
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.
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\hp_000017e8.mp4
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\hp_00001a90.mp4
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\hp_000017e8.mp4
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\hp_00001a90.mp4
YARA + heuristic rules that fired
A researcher-curated or high-severity heuristic rule matched this sample. These rules target specific malware families and are near-definitive.
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:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\Setup.exe"
33 detections across 74 engines
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.
How often this file shows up in the wild
Moderate prevalence — neither rare nor common. No strong prior applies.
Forensic fingerprint
- File name
- Setup.exe
- Size
- 8.03 MB
- MIME type
- (unknown)
- Detected type
- Win32 EXE
- SHA-256
- 12901e1bb180f95387328e9ec6fe3a9c652149b71cdb658c4fd1ff65c3e2f763
- MD5
- 1b6c7da8cd4a763967efd98a26071591
- SHA-1
- 640132955090d42f375c0c3c82756d3412142676
- PE imphash
- fc8f02921a06b9af961f79067d418147
- First seen (VT)
- 7/11/2026, 10:27:29 AM
- Last analysis (VT)
- 7/11/2026, 8:15:17 PM
- First scan (MalwareTips)
- 7/12/2026, 4:37:39 AM
- Last scan (MalwareTips)
- 7/12/2026, 4:37:39 AM
- Code signer
- Hosts File Backupinvalid
Safety FAQ
Common questions about Setup.exe, answered from the scan data above.
- Yes — Setup.exe is malicious, so do not run it, and delete it. 33 of 74 antivirus engines flag it (family: malwarex). It behaves as a trojan — malware disguised as something harmless to trick you into running it. If you've already run it, see the removal and recovery steps below.
- Setup.exe is a Windows executable program, about 8 MB. Our analysis identifies it as malicious (family: malwarex) — a trojan — malware disguised as something harmless to trick you into running it. Because a file's name and icon can be faked, the safest way to identify it is by its cryptographic hash (below), not its filename.
- 33 of 74 antivirus engines flagged Setup.exe, 33 of them as outright malicious. A detection rate at this level is a reliable signal that the file is dangerous.
- Act quickly. 1) Disconnect the device from the internet to stop the malware communicating or spreading. 2) Run a full scan with reputable anti-malware software (such as Malwarebytes) and quarantine everything it finds. 3) Change your important passwords from a DIFFERENT, clean device — many threats log keystrokes or steal saved credentials. 4) If you bank or shop on this device, watch closely for fraud and alert your bank. 5) For a confirmed infection, the most reliable fix is to back up your personal files and reinstall the operating system for a clean start.
- To remove Setup.exe: 1) restart into Safe Mode (Safe Mode with Networking if you need to download a tool) so the malware doesn't auto-start. 2) Run a full scan with reputable anti-malware software and let it quarantine or delete the detections. 3) Delete the original Setup.exe file and empty the Recycle Bin/Trash. 4) Check your browser extensions, startup items, and scheduled tasks for anything unfamiliar. 5) Reboot and scan again to confirm it's gone. If detections keep coming back, a clean operating-system reinstall is the most dependable cure.
- Setup.exe is classified as a trojan — malware disguised as something harmless to trick you into running it. Engines attribute it to the malwarex family. Knowing the family matters because it tells you the likely impact — data theft, remote control, file encryption, or unwanted ads — and guides the cleanup.
- Setup.exe claims a signer of Hosts File Backup, but the signature is not verified — an unverified or broken signature can be forged, so it should not be trusted as proof of who made the file.
- The SHA-256 hash of Setup.exe is 12901e1bb180f95387328e9ec6fe3a9c652149b71cdb658c4fd1ff65c3e2f763, and its MD5 is 1b6c7da8cd4a763967efd98a26071591. 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.
- This report reflects the scan run on July 12, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of Setup.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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