File verdict·Decided by the MT AI Engine
Our call

Suspicious

Unsigned rare PE with process-injection and direct-IP behaviour flagged by three tier-2 engines.

Trust score42Caution
Patch.exe
8.8 MB
2035c328e6ea20abc76d4445f72b
Antivirus engines
5 of 74 flagged
Code signing
Unsigned
Age
First-seen today
MT AI Engine · our arbiter

The 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.

65%Confidence
High
Reasoning

The combination of tier-2 detections, offensive MITRE techniques, and direct-IP C2 without DNS raises concern, yet the complete absence of tier-1 consensus and lack of dropped malicious children or known-bad hosts keeps the file from crossing into a clear malicious verdict. The file's extreme rarity and unsigned status further limit confidence in either direction.

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.

  1. engines.tier1Malicious=0 and tier1FamilyConsensus.strong=false

  2. behaviour.offensiveTechniques=["T1055","T1134"] and triggeredHeuristics[0].rule="MalwareTips.Synth.ProcessInjection"

  3. signing.verified=false and prevalence.classification="rare_new"

  4. contactedIps=["162.159.36.2"] with zero contactedDomains

  5. similarHashes.length=0 and externalIntel.yaraify.ruleCount=0

Points in its favour
  • Zero tier-1 engines flagged the sample
  • No malicious dropped children or contacted hosts
  • No YARAify or CIRCL corroboration
Points against
  • Unsigned binary with zero prior submissions
  • Process injection (T1055) observed in sandbox
  • Direct-IP contact bypassing DNS reputation systems
  • Three tier-2 engines assigned malicious confidence scores
What to do

Treat as suspicious pending additional sandbox or threat-intel results; avoid execution until further confirmation.

Runtime behaviour

What this file did when executed

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

MITRE ATT&CK
18

Adversary techniques mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

T1010T1012T1027T1027.002T1033T1055T1059T1071T1082T1083T1129T1134T1140T1222T1497.001T1539T1564.003T1614
Spawned processes
10
$(unnamed)
"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\Patch.exe"
$(unnamed)
C:\Windows\system32\services.exe
$(unnamed)
"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\Patch.exe" -el6020 -s2 "-dC:\" "-sp"
$(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 LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s WdiSystemHost
$(unnamed)
C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService -s W32Time
+2 more processes captured.
Network activity
1
IP addresses1
  • 162.159.36.2
Filesystem & mutexes
10
Files written7
  • \Device\HarddiskVolume2\\__tmp_rar_sfx_access_check_48625
  • C:\__tmp_rar_sfx_access_check_48625
  • C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\FontCache\Fonts\Download-1.tmp
  • __tmp_rar_sfx_access_check_224015
  • C:\\ETAP 2400
+2 more
Files deleted3
  • __tmp_rar_sfx_access_check_224015
  • C:\ETAP 2400\LFNRSimu.exe
  • C:\__tmp_rar_sfx_access_check_4251468
No researcher-database hits
External threat-intel sources were not collected for this scan.
Signature matches

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.

3 synthesis
MITRE ATT&CK profile
Defense evasion× 1Cred access× 1C2× 1
MalwareTips synthesis rules
Our heuristics on VT data + sandbox behaviour
  • ProcessInjectionhigh

    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
  • CredentialDumpermedium

    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
  • DirectIpC2medium

    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
    162.159.36.2
Antivirus engine breakdown

5 detections across 74 engines

5 malicious0 suspicious69 clean
Tier-117 engines
0flag
Top commercial AVs (low FP rate)
Tier-240 engines
3flag
Mainstream engines with mixed FP rates
Low-trust17 engines
2flag
Heuristic / generic-AI engines (high FP rate)
APEX
malicious
Malicious
CrowdStrike
malicious
win/malicious_confidence_90% (D)
Elastic
malicious
malicious (moderate confidence)
McAfeeD
malicious
ti!2035C328E6EA
SentinelOne
malicious
Static AI - Suspicious PE
Hash 2035c328e6ea… cross-referenced against 74 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 8.00Unpacked
Section entropy8 sections
.text
6.49
.rdata
5.38
.data
3.06
.pdata
5.61
.didat
3.02
.fptable
0.00
.rsrc
4.72
.reloc
5.37
0.0Packed threshold 7.28.0
Prevalence

How often this file shows up in the wild

Barely seen in the wild and first surfaced recently. This is the footprint of targeted malware the AV industry hasn't signatured yet — extra scrutiny is warranted.

Rare & new
Unique uploaders
1
Very few people have ever uploaded this — rare.
Total submissions
1
Includes repeat uploads by the same source.
First seen by VT
0d ago
Jul 11, 2026
Prevalence quadrant
here
Rare · New
Targeted malware lives 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)
7/11/2026, 9:18:48 AM
First seen (MalwareBazaar)
Last analysis (VT)
7/11/2026, 9:18:48 AM
Scanned here
7/11/2026, 9:37:27 AM
File name
Patch.exe
Size
8.82 MB
MIME type
(unknown)
Detected type
Win32 EXE
SHA-256
2035c328e6ea20abc718a83fc339e931e7200f9b31c0e026deedb66d4445f72b
MD5
8f95cca0074835439c80173af36c3c18
SHA-1
db0cfc9e0f8f5b1843ecfa632457e5f07f91fcf6
PE imphash
2057790ae7855765d51bdc4142e62f9c
First seen (VT)
7/11/2026, 9:18:48 AM
Last analysis (VT)
7/11/2026, 9:18:48 AM
First scan (MalwareTips)
7/11/2026, 9:37:27 AM
Last scan (MalwareTips)
7/11/2026, 9:37:27 AM
Behavior tags
overlaypeexe64bits
Frequently asked

Safety FAQ

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

  • Patch.exe is suspicious — treat it as unsafe until you're sure. 5 of 74 antivirus engines flag it, which isn't a strong consensus but is enough to be cautious. Don't run it unless you fully trust where it came from, and prefer downloading the software fresh from its official site.
  • Patch.exe is a Windows executable program, about 8.8 MB. We identify a file by its cryptographic hash rather than its name, because the same filename can be reused by completely different files — the hash below is the reliable fingerprint.
  • 5 of 74 antivirus engines flagged Patch.exe, 5 of them as outright malicious. A small number of detections can include false positives, so we weigh which engines flagged it and what else the file does, not just the raw count.
  • 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 Patch.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 Patch.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.
  • The SHA-256 hash of Patch.exe is 2035c328e6ea20abc718a83fc339e931e7200f9b31c0e026deedb66d4445f72b, and its MD5 is 8f95cca0074835439c80173af36c3c18. 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 11, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of Patch.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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Files are processed in a streaming pass-through — MalwareTips never stores the binary on its servers. Only the scan result (hash, detections, verdict) is retained so the next person who scans the same file gets an instant answer. If you ran this file on your computer and are worried, scan your system with an up-to-date antivirus and change critical passwords from a different device.