Is Launcher.exe safe?
No antivirus engine detected this established, Take-Two-signed launcher, and its limited observed activity showed no offensive behavior or adverse host reputation.
The launcher has a valid Take-Two Interactive Software signature and received no detections from 75 antivirus engines, including 17 tier-1 products. It has circulated extensively since 2021, while the completed sandbox run and fully covered domain-reputation check produced no concrete malware indicators.
18a6b3551bba1c8512…25eb31923f82e4Recommended next actions
Before running
Run it only when it came from the developer's official site or another source you independently trust.
If you already ran it
Keep normal device protection enabled and stop if the file behaves unexpectedly.
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 launcher has a valid Take-Two Interactive Software signature and received no detections from 75 antivirus engines, including 17 tier-1 products. It has circulated extensively since 2021, while the completed sandbox run and fully covered domain-reputation check produced no concrete malware indicators.
All 75 antivirus engines returned no malicious or suspicious finding, including 17 tier-1 engines. The executable carries a verified Take-Two Interactive Software signature, with no detected brand conflict. It is well established, having appeared from 2,055 sources across 2,371 submissions since 2021. One completed sandbox run recorded only ambient techniques, no offensive techniques, no persistence, and no malicious sandbox assessment. Reputation coverage included all three observed domains and returned no malicious or suspicious host result. Unsupported community tags conflict with the stronger engine, signature, prevalence, runtime, and external-intelligence evidence.
What We Detected
No malicious or suspicious result appeared among 75 antivirus engines, and all 17 tier-1 engines were silent. The executable is signed with a verified certificate naming Take-Two Interactive Software, and no mismatch between the claimed brand and signer was detected. It has also circulated broadly since 2021, with 2,055 distinct sources and 2,371 submissions.
Threat Behavior
One completed sandbox run recorded four ambient techniques but no techniques reserved for malware or offensive tools. It recorded no persistence indicators, written files, or dropped hashes, and did not produce a malicious sandbox assessment. All three observed domains were covered by the host-reputation check, with no malicious or suspicious result. External intelligence returned no MalwareBazaar, CIRCL, or YARAify match.
What To Do Now
The evidence is consistent with an established commercial game launcher. Obtain it through Take-Two or the relevant official game distribution channel, keep endpoint protection enabled, and verify that the certificate remains valid before execution.
Where this verdict could be wrong3 caveats
- The communityComments tags mention Cobalt Strike, IcedID, and Vidar, but provide no family identification or supporting rule match; this conflicts with 0/75 detections and externalIntel.yaraify.ruleCount=0.
- The file carries the 'detect-debug-environment' tag and exhibited T1574.002, but behaviour.offensiveCount=0 and the completed sandbox produced no malicious verdict.
- signing.signerStats.found=false, so no internal historical signer record independently supports the valid Take-Two signature.
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- 0/75 engines reported a malicious or suspicious result.
- All 17 tier-1 engines reported no detection.
- Verified signature from 'Take-Two Interactive Software'.
- 2,055 sources and 2,371 submissions since 2021.
- One sandbox run had no malicious assessment and no offensive techniques.
- The sample includes a detect-debug-environment tag.
- The sandbox reported T1574.002 among otherwise ambient techniques.
- No historical signer statistics are available for 'Take-Two Interactive Software'.
- One unsupported community annotation applied unrelated malware-family tags.
Use the file only if it came from Take-Two or an authorized game platform, and confirm the verified publisher signature before launching. Keep antivirus and endpoint protection enabled.
Coverage & freshness
Complete means the check returned a usable result. It does not mean the file is safe.
Antivirus
Complete0 of 75 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Partial3 of 23 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete.
YARA
CompleteRule evaluation completed with no recorded matches.
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
- 4MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 10spawned processes
- 23network contacts
- 15filesystem & mutex artifacts
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.
- cdn.onenote.net
- www.microsoft.com
- res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft
- 23.10.195.101
- a83f:8110:0:0:0:0:2002:0
- a83f:8110:0:0:b00:b00:2800:1800
- 23.216.147.64
- a83f:8110:2800:1800:4000:1800:1800:100
- 13.107.4.50
- 52.251.79.25
- 23.216.147.76
- a83f:8110:1749:73ff:1749:73ff:1a4b:73ff
- 20.99.133.109
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERF869.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERFA1F.tmp.csv
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERFA4F.tmp.txt
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER1C1.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER1C2.tmp.csv
Detection & Forensics
Consensus, attribution, signatures, code structure, prevalence, and identity.
Evidence integrity
Chain of custody for the facts preserved in this report.
- 0rule hits recorded
- 0 / 75engines flagged
- 2,055sources in submission history
Why these facts are shown
Each statement identifies whether it was directly recorded or derived from saved scan facts.
- 01
0 of 75 antivirus engines flagged the file.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 02
The hash has a long, established submission history across 2,055 sources.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 03
The file has a valid code signature from Take-Two Interactive Software.
ProvenanceObservedSourceCode-signing metadataObserved at - 04
Scanned file: Launcher.exe — 18a6b3551bba1c8512aca8dae6cb79355efcbdbecd232bb28325eb31923f82e4
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — %SAMPLEPATH%\18a6b3551bba1c8512aca8dae6cb79355efcbdbecd232bb28325eb31923f82e4.exe
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — C:\Windows\System32\wuapihost.exe
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
Contacted host: cdn.onenote.net — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
Contacted host: www.microsoft.com — Saved reputation verdict: safe.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceContacted-host cross-checkObserved 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.
YARA rules
No matchesThe rule pass completed without a saved public match.
0 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
- Launcher.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- Signature valid: Take-Two Interactive Software
- Size
- 642.2 KB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 26, 2026, 3:06 PM UTC
18a6b3551bba1c8512aca8dae6cb79355efcbdbecd232bb28325eb31923f82e4Safety & FAQ
Complete recovery guidance and answers for the next decision.
What to do now
This file appears low risk based on the evidence available now.
- Recovery step 01
Run it only when it came from the developer's official site or another source you independently trust.
- Recovery step 02
A clean result reduces known risk, but it cannot guarantee that every new or targeted threat has been detected.
- Recovery step 03
Keep your antivirus and Windows updates switched on so you stay protected.
Safety FAQ
Direct answers grounded in the saved verdict and evidence in this report.
Is Launcher.exe safe?
What is Launcher.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected Launcher.exe?
Is Launcher.exe digitally signed?
What is the SHA-256 hash of Launcher.exe?
Is it safe to run Launcher.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of Launcher.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.