Is Ripples.exe safe?
Only 1 of 74 engines raised a generic heuristic alert, while broad prevalence, tier-1 silence, and limited runtime findings favor a false positive.
Malwarebytes alone raised a generic heuristic detection; none of the tier-1 engines identified malware or agreed on a family. The file is unsigned and contacted multiple IP addresses, but its long-established prevalence, absence of offensive behavior, and lack of independent intelligence hits make a false positive substantially more likely.
38a58237613673d989…a117a98c966b5eRecommended 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.
Malwarebytes alone raised a generic heuristic detection; none of the tier-1 engines identified malware or agreed on a family. The file is unsigned and contacted multiple IP addresses, but its long-established prevalence, absence of offensive behavior, and lack of independent intelligence hits make a false positive substantially more likely.
The scan shows one generic Malwarebytes detection among 74 engines, with no tier-1 detections or family consensus. The file has circulated broadly for more than two years, appearing across 1,463 sources and 1,852 submissions. One sandbox run found no offensive techniques, malicious runtime conclusion, or persistence, and neither inspected child was identified as malware. The main concern is direct communication with 15 IP addresses, whose reputations were not completely checked. Because the executable is unsigned and those network contacts remain unresolved, it should still be obtained from a trustworthy source and scanned locally before use.
What We Detected
Only 1 of 74 antivirus engines flagged the executable. Malwarebytes used the generic label Malware.Heuristic.2099, while no tier-1 engine reported malware and no engine consensus identified a named family. The file is unsigned, but it has been observed for 779 days across 1,463 sources and 1,852 submissions.
Threat Behavior
One completed sandbox run recorded eight common environmental or application techniques, zero offensive techniques, no persistence indicators, and no malicious sandbox conclusion. Two dropped files were inspected without a malicious child finding. The sample contacted 15 IP addresses without recorded application domains; because no complete host-reputation cross-check is available, those connections remain an unresolved concern rather than confirmed command-and-control activity.
What To Do Now
Obtain the executable only from its expected official or otherwise trusted source, retain endpoint protection, and perform a fresh local scan before running it. If the origin is unknown or the program unexpectedly requests network access, do not execute it until the destination IP addresses and software provenance can be verified.
Where this verdict could be wrong4 caveats
- Malwarebytes flagged Malware.Heuristic.2099, although no tier-1 engine agreed and no family was identified.
- MalwareTips.Synth.DirectIpC2 fired after 15 IP contacts without application domains; contactedHosts=null prevents a complete reputation assessment of those contacts.
- signing.applicable=true but signing.signed=false, so publisher identity and signer history cannot support the file.
- similarHashes contains 3/3 prior suspicious decisions for the same imphash, though all lack signer co-matches and may reflect a shared build framework.
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- No tier-1 engine detections among 74 total engines
- Established prevalence across 1,463 sources and 1,852 submissions
- Zero offensive techniques and no malicious sandbox conclusion
- No malicious child among two inspected dropped files
- No packing, high-entropy code, YARAify rules, or MalwareBazaar match
- Unsigned Win32 executable with no verified publisher identity
- Malwarebytes generic heuristic detection Malware.Heuristic.2099
- Fifteen contacted IP addresses with no complete host-reputation result
- Direct-IP communication heuristic fired
- Three imphash-only similar files previously received suspicious decisions
Keep endpoint protection enabled and use the file only if it came from a trusted source. Recheck it if unexpected network activity appears or additional reputable engines begin detecting it.
Coverage & freshness
Complete means the check returned a usable result. It does not mean the file is safe.
Antivirus
Complete1 of 74 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Partial20 runtime contacts were observed without a completed reputation cross-check.
YARA
Complete1 signature or behavior rule 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
- 8MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 15spawned processes
- 20network contacts
- 33filesystem & mutex artifacts
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
Ripples.exe
38a58237613673d989e7f8e2cdc3efaa1484693e8cd1182899a117a98c966b5e
01Uploaded file
Processes
Runtime execution
- ProcessObserved
Observed process
"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\Ripples.exe"
02Isolated runtime analysis - ProcessObserved
Observed process
C:\Windows\system32\WerFault.exe -u -p 5172 -s 472
03Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Files
Created or changed
- Written fileObserved
Temp
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp
04Isolated runtime analysis - Written fileObserved
68826a99-7b48-4fac-abeb-144022a28cff
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\68826a99-7b48-4fac-abeb-144022a28cff
05Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Network
Hosts contacted
- Contacted hostObserved
23.216.147.78
Contact observed during runtime.
06Isolated runtime analysis - Contacted hostObserved
192.168.0.40
Contact observed during runtime.
07Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
7 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.
- 23.216.147.78
- 192.168.0.40
- 23.216.81.152
- 20.99.186.246
- 23.64.157.53
- 151.101.22.172
- 23.216.147.61
- 23.48.190.24
- a83f:8110:2fe6:da01:beac:bf78:cce1:d301
- 192.168.0.33
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\68826a99-7b48-4fac-abeb-144022a28cff
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\47a5955a-599a-4c01-ba9f-f16eb157e9ce
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER36B6.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER3ACE.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER3BF7.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER36B6.tmp.dmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER3ACE.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- Local\WERReportingForProcess5172
- Global\AmiProviderMutex_InventoryApplicationFile
- Global\e2a1dcd6-98f9-4436-aa81-9320aff1f1d5
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\WERReportingForProcess1440
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Global\AmiProviderMutex_InventoryApplicationFile
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 2 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- b10a59deaad6132eac7b…437413Never scannednever seen before
- 6b76a52e11e0627d810b…5a391aNever 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.
- 1rule hit recorded
- 1 / 74engines flagged
- 1,463sources in submission history
Why these facts are shown
Each statement identifies whether it was directly recorded or derived from saved scan facts.
- 01
The hash has a long, established submission history across 1,463 sources.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 02
1 of 74 antivirus engines flagged the file, including Malwarebytes.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 03
The hash has been submitted 1,852 times from 1,463 sources.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceSaved report factsObserved at - 04
Scanned file: Ripples.exe — 38a58237613673d989e7f8e2cdc3efaa1484693e8cd1182899a117a98c966b5e
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\Ripples.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — C:\Windows\system32\WerFault.exe -u -p 5172 -s 472
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
File written: Temp — C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
File written: 68826a99-7b48-4fac-abeb-144022a28cff — C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\68826a99-7b48-4fac-abeb-144022a28cff
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 09
Contacted host: 23.216.147.78 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 10
Contacted host: 192.168.0.40 — Contact observed during runtime.
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
Behavioral heuristics matched patterns associated with malware. Corroborating evidence determines how much weight they carry.
The sample contacted an external IP address directly and no application domain was recorded. Direct-IP traffic also occurs in legitimate installers and infrastructure, so this is supporting context only and requires corroboration from host reputation and other runtime evidence.
Evidence23.216.147.78 · 23.216.81.152 · 20.99.186.246
1 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
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
- Ripples.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- No verified publisher
- Size
- 61.5 KB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 20, 2026, 4:39 PM UTC
38a58237613673d989e7f8e2cdc3efaa1484693e8cd1182899a117a98c966b5eSafety & 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 Ripples.exe safe?
What is Ripples.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected Ripples.exe?
What is the SHA-256 hash of Ripples.exe?
Is it safe to run Ripples.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of Ripples.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.