Is IEXPLORE.EXE safe?
Microsoft’s verified signature, 0/75 antivirus detections, favorable signer history, and unremarkable sandbox outcome outweigh an isolated ransomware-themed YARA match.
The executable carries a verified Microsoft Corporation signature, and none of 75 antivirus engines detected it. Four community YARA rules matched, including one ransomware-themed rule, but that warning is unsupported by engine detections, a malicious sandbox verdict, or a malicious dropped child.
43f7fa5e22fa1a0098…f1a48d06d9eb35Recommended 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 executable carries a verified Microsoft Corporation signature, and none of 75 antivirus engines detected it. Four community YARA rules matched, including one ransomware-themed rule, but that warning is unsupported by engine detections, a malicious sandbox verdict, or a malicious dropped child.
No antivirus engine flagged the sample: 0 of 75 reported it as malicious or suspicious, including all 17 reporting tier-1 engines. The signature verifies to Microsoft Corporation, a curated trusted publisher, and 27 of 28 historical samples associated with this signer were assessed as safe. One completed sandbox run produced no malicious verdict, while two inspected dropped children produced no malicious finding. Four community YARA rules matched, but three concern generic executable characteristics and the ransomware-themed rule has no corroboration from engines or runtime verdicts. Five signer-matched historical samples also received safe assessments, reinforcing the publisher evidence. Host-reputation coverage was incomplete because the domain was inspected but the two observed IP addresses were not documented as checked.
What We Detected
The file is a Win32 executable carrying a verified signature from Microsoft Corporation. None of 75 antivirus engines flagged it, and all 17 reporting tier-1 engines returned no detection. The signer history is also favorable, with 27 of 28 historical samples assessed as safe, while five signer-matched files received prior safe assessments.
Threat Behavior
One sandbox run recorded mostly common system activity and produced no malicious sandbox verdict. Two dropped children were inspected without a malicious finding. The sample exhibited T1562.001, and four community YARA rules matched, including VECT_Ransomware; however, this static warning lacks corroboration from antivirus detections, destructive behavior, persistence indicators, or a malicious child. The reputation check covered the observed domain but did not document checks for both contacted IP addresses, so it is not a complete network-reputation result.
What To Do Now
Use the file only if its source and expected Microsoft product context are known, and keep endpoint protection enabled. If it arrived unexpectedly or outside an official Microsoft distribution channel, verify the certificate details and file hash before execution.
Where this verdict could be wrong4 caveats
- YARAify matched four rules, including 'VECT_Ransomware'; this is a substantive static warning, though no antivirus engine or sandbox verdict corroborates ransomware activity.
- behaviour.offensiveTechniques includes T1562.001, but it occurred alongside 13 ambient techniques and no malicious sandbox verdict.
- signing.signerStats includes 1 malicious result among 28 samples, so signer history is highly favorable but not flawless.
- The contacted-host check inspected the one domain but did not document coverage of behaviour.contactedIps, leaving host-reputation coverage incomplete.
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.
- Verified signature from 'Microsoft Corporation'.
- signing.trustedPublisher.matched=true for Microsoft.
- signing.signerStats shows 27/28 safe samples.
- Five of five signer-matched similar hashes have prior safe verdicts.
- externalIntel.yaraify.ruleCount=4, including 'VECT_Ransomware'.
- behaviour.offensiveTechniques contains T1562.001.
- Contacted-host reputation coverage omitted two IP addresses listed under behaviour.contactedIps.
- signing.signerStats records 1/28 historical samples as malicious.
Retain or run it when obtained through an expected Microsoft channel; otherwise verify its certificate and hash first. 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
Partial1 of 3 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete.
YARA
Complete4 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
- 14MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 4spawned processes
- 3network contacts
- 28filesystem & 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.
- a1672.dscr.akamai.net
- 162.159.36.2
- 135.233.45.223
- \REGISTRY\A\{753f4612-6118-ec36-e272-7c613a41abe3}\Root\InventoryApplicationFile\WritePermissionsCheck
- \REGISTRY\A\{753f4612-6118-ec36-e272-7c613a41abe3}\Root\InventoryApplicationFile\file.exe|3bfeaaf1919d30b\ProgramId
- \REGISTRY\A\{753f4612-6118-ec36-e272-7c613a41abe3}\Root\InventoryApplicationFile\file.exe|3bfeaaf1919d30b\FileId
- \REGISTRY\A\{753f4612-6118-ec36-e272-7c613a41abe3}\Root\InventoryApplicationFile\file.exe|3bfeaaf1919d30b\LowerCaseLongPath
- \REGISTRY\A\{753f4612-6118-ec36-e272-7c613a41abe3}\Root\InventoryApplicationFile\file.exe|3bfeaaf1919d30b\LongPathHash
- \REGISTRY\A\{753f4612-6118-ec36-e272-7c613a41abe3}\Root\InventoryApplicationFile\file.exe|3bfeaaf1919d30b\Name
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\4b6b756b-7310-424e-80e9-c54c0da65464
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\001110ef-0b57-40fd-aa02-bde7dd97ed0c
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERD13A.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERDC95.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERDE5B.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERD13A.tmp.dmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERDC95.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- Local\WERReportingForProcess3744
- Global\AmiProviderMutex_InventoryApplicationFile
- Global\69aa5213-0160-4be1-a961-844fb59bdf82
- !PrivacIE!SharedMem!Mutex
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\WERReportingForProcess6100
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 2 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- b45d575d49335107ec6e…1b29c5Never scannednever seen before
- 47121dad1866dabfb49b…edccebNever 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.
- 4rule hits recorded
- 0 / 75engines flagged
- 244sources 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 244 sources.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 03
The file has a valid code signature from Microsoft Corporation.
ProvenanceObservedSourceCode-signing metadataObserved at - 04
Scanned file: IEXPLORE.EXE — 43f7fa5e22fa1a00989114e7d9b58cf1fb6dadf009bff45e70f1a48d06d9eb35
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\file.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — C:\Windows\system32\WerFault.exe -u -p 3744 -s 752
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
File written: Temp — C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
File written: 4b6b756b-7310-424e-80e9-c54c0da65464 — C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\4b6b756b-7310-424e-80e9-c54c0da65464
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 09
Contacted host: a1672.dscr.akamai.net — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 10
Contacted host: 162.159.36.2 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at
Detection sources at a glance
The available sources did not agree on a named threat category.
One or more independent reference databases matched 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.
- DebuggerCheck__API
- pe_detect_tls_callbacks
- PE_Digital_Certificate
- VECT_Ransomware
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
- IEXPLORE.EXE
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- Signature valid: Microsoft Corporation
- Size
- 826.4 KB
- Last analyzed
- Oct 5, 2026, 12:18 AM UTC
43f7fa5e22fa1a00989114e7d9b58cf1fb6dadf009bff45e70f1a48d06d9eb35Safety & 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 IEXPLORE.EXE safe?
What is IEXPLORE.EXE?
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Is IEXPLORE.EXE digitally signed?
What is the SHA-256 hash of IEXPLORE.EXE?
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Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.