Is volt.exe safe?
Sparse generic detections are outweighed by caution around an unsigned executable whose sandbox activity mapped to process injection and LSASS access.
Only 2 of 74 engines raised alerts, and neither established a named malware family. However, the unsigned executable produced runtime evidence associated with process injection and LSASS access, so it should not be trusted or launched on a production system without independent publisher verification.
26a709f8e65a72526f…940bacb1fd4f13Recommended 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.
Only 2 of 74 engines raised alerts, and neither established a named malware family. However, the unsigned executable produced runtime evidence associated with process injection and LSASS access, so it should not be trusted or launched on a production system without independent publisher verification.
The antivirus result is limited: Sophos applied a generic PUA label, APEX issued a generic alert, and no tier-1 family consensus formed. The single completed sandbox run did not return a malicious verdict, but its telemetry mapped to T1055 and T1134 and included LSASS-related activity. Those techniques can be abused for injection, privilege manipulation, or credential access, although the saved evidence does not prove a specific implementation or intent. The executable is unsigned and has no publisher history to offset that runtime concern. Similar-file history is mostly cautionary, but the matches share only an imphash without signer overlap and therefore provide weak support. No complete contacted-host reputation check is available, so network reputation cannot resolve the mixed evidence.
What We Detected
Two of 74 antivirus engines flagged the executable. Sophos reported a generic machine-learning PUA label, while APEX supplied a generic malicious label; there is no agreed malware family and 16 of 17 reporting tier-1 engines did not flag it. The file is unsigned and has no established signer history.
Threat Behavior
One completed sandbox run mapped activity to T1055 (Process Injection) and T1134 (Access Token Manipulation). A separate heuristic also associated observed process activity with lsass.exe, which warrants caution because LSASS is a sensitive credential-store process. The sandbox did not issue a malicious verdict, recorded no contacted domains, and found no persistence indicators. Ten dropped files were inspected without a malicious child being identified, but all ten lack definitive child verdicts; additionally, no complete contacted-host reputation result is available.
What To Do Now
Do not run the file on a production or personal system until its origin and expected publisher can be independently confirmed. Keep endpoint protection enabled, quarantine the sample, and test it only in an isolated disposable environment if analysis is necessary.
Where this verdict could be wrong4 caveats
- Only 2/74 engines detected the sample, and 16 of 17 reporting tier-1 engines did not flag it.
- behaviour.hasMaliciousSandboxVerdict=false, and no persistence indicators or contacted domains were recorded in the single sandbox run.
- droppedChildren.hasMaliciousChild=false, although all 10 inspected children remain without definitive verdicts.
- externalIntel shows no CIRCL, MalwareBazaar, or YARAify hit, but absence of those references does not establish benignity.
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- Only 2/74 engines raised alerts
- No tier-1 malware-family consensus
- No malicious sandbox verdict
- No known malicious dropped child among 10 inspected files
- No CIRCL, MalwareBazaar, or YARAify match
- Unsigned Win32 executable with no signer history
- Runtime mapping to T1055 process injection
- Runtime mapping to T1134 access-token manipulation
- LSASS-related process activity
- One tier-1 PUA detection plus one low-trust generic detection
- Only three days since first submission
Quarantine the executable and verify its download source, expected publisher, and checksum before use. Keep endpoint protection enabled and use an isolated disposable environment for any necessary testing.
Coverage & freshness
Complete means the check returned a usable result. It does not mean the file is safe.
Antivirus
Complete2 of 74 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Not runNo contacted-host reputation check is recorded.
No timestamp recordedYARA
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
- 20MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 11spawned processes
- 0network contacts
- 21filesystem & 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.
High concern: Changed an auto-start location that can make code run after sign-in or restart.
High concern: Manipulated how the operating system loads code, which can redirect 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.
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
volt.exe
26a709f8e65a72526f57a24cb531167a9206df741935c6e978940bacb1fd4f13
01Uploaded file
Processes
Runtime execution
- ProcessObserved
Observed process
"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\volt.exe"
02Isolated runtime analysis - ProcessObserved
Observed process
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
03Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Files
Created or changed
- Written fileObserved
nstC890.tmp
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nstC890.tmp
04Isolated runtime analysis - Written fileObserved
System.dll
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjC8A1.tmp\System.dll
05Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
5 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.
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nstC890.tmp
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjC8A1.tmp\System.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjC8A1.tmp\modern-wizard.bmp
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjC8A1.tmp\nsDialogs.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjC8A1.tmp\nsis_tauri_utils.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\KnownGameList.bin
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\GameDVR\KnownGameList.update
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\nsa1F24.tmp
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\nsk1E28.tmp
- cversions.3.m
- Global\OneSettingQueryMutex+compat+encapsulation
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- a4f0cf2fe24eb73815a8…367e6bNever scannednever seen before
- dc76c788b35100f12a1b…765d04Never scannednever seen before
- 43dc7a51985872f83cd2…b3462aNever scannednever seen before
- 4ac4417f19d388b7435b…f28109Never scannednever seen before
- b1350f487692057c8ffd…551fc0Never scannednever seen before
- 1deaf275538c1cb05edd…7b2aa8Never scannednever seen before
- 9baee42d66f715bba878…b40256Never scannednever seen before
- a5e45037f41f2e67a72c…ad8ec1Never scannednever seen before
- 8b4c47c4cf5e76ec57dd…90d37cNever scannednever seen before
- 844d0d3767c82140ae05…8694f4Never 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
- 2 / 74engines flagged
- 62sources 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
2 of 74 antivirus engines flagged the file, including APEX and Sophos.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 03
The hash has been submitted 71 times from 62 sources.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceSaved report factsObserved at - 04
Scanned file: volt.exe — 26a709f8e65a72526f57a24cb531167a9206df741935c6e978940bacb1fd4f13
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\volt.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
File written: nstC890.tmp — C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nstC890.tmp
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
File written: System.dll — C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjC8A1.tmp\System.dll
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.
EvidenceC:\Windows\Explorer.EXESandbox 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.exe
2 of 74 engines flagged this file
View all 74 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
Moderate prevalence — neither rare nor common. No strong prior applies.
Fingerprint and provenance
- File name
- volt.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- No verified publisher
- Size
- 11.1 MB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 19, 2026, 9:10 AM UTC
26a709f8e65a72526f57a24cb531167a9206df741935c6e978940bacb1fd4f13Safety & 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 volt.exe safe, or is it malware?
What is volt.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected volt.exe?
What should I do if I already ran volt.exe?
How do I remove volt.exe?
What is the SHA-256 hash of volt.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of volt.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.