Is SnippingTool.exe safe?
Only APEX flagged this long-established Windows executable, while all 17 tier-1 engines and one completed sandbox observation found no corroborating malware activity.
One of 74 antivirus engines flagged the file, and that detection came from a low-trust engine; all 17 tier-1 engines were silent. The sample is unsigned, but its long prevalence, unremarkable sandbox run, fully checked observed domains, and lack of external intelligence hits strongly favor a false positive.
4e30a8c88c75594414…9e20ceab1d10d2Recommended 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.
One of 74 antivirus engines flagged the file, and that detection came from a low-trust engine; all 17 tier-1 engines were silent. The sample is unsigned, but its long prevalence, unremarkable sandbox run, fully checked observed domains, and lack of external intelligence hits strongly favor a false positive.
APEX produced the only detection among 74 engines, while all 17 tier-1 engines reported no detection and no family consensus exists. One completed sandbox observation recorded no offensive techniques, malicious verdict, dropped files, or persistence indicators. The two observed domains were both inspected and had no malicious or suspicious cached reputation, although the sandbox also listed numerous IP contacts that were not represented in that host cross-check. The file has circulated since 2018 across 134 sources and 180 submissions, with no packing indication or corroborating researcher-rule hit. Its missing digital signature and an uncorroborated community allegation warrant some caution, but they do not outweigh the independent evidence supporting a false positive.
What We Detected
APEX was the sole detector among 74 antivirus engines. It supplied only a generic malicious label, while all 17 tier-1 engines reported no detection and no malware-family consensus was present.
Threat Behavior
One completed sandbox observation found no offensive techniques, malicious sandbox verdict, dropped files, or persistence indicators. Both observed domains—www.microsoft.com and res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft—were covered by the host-reputation check and had no malicious or suspicious cached reputation. The sandbox also recorded several IP contacts that were not included in that two-host reputation result, so the network assessment is not comprehensive for every IP.
What To Do Now
The evidence is consistent with a low-trust false positive, reinforced by circulation since 2018 and the absence of packing or external intelligence hits. Because the executable is unsigned, obtain it through Windows or another official Microsoft distribution channel and keep endpoint protection enabled.
Where this verdict could be wrong3 caveats
- signing.signed=false despite signing.applicable=true, so publisher authenticity cannot be established from a digital signature.
- communityComments[0] reports a third-party likely-malicious assessment and mentions keylogging, but it has 0 votes and is not corroborated by behaviour.offensiveTechniques or tier-1 detections.
- APEX labels the sample "Malicious," although APEX is the only detector among 74 engines and is categorized as low_trust.
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- All 17 tier-1 antivirus engines reported no detection.
- Only 1/74 engines flagged the sample, and engines.onlyLowTrustFlagging=true.
- One sandbox observation had no malicious verdict and behaviour.offensiveCount=0.
- The sample has 134 sources and 180 submissions dating to 2018.
- no complete contacted-host reputation result was available reputation, packed code, external intelligence hit, dropped file, or persistence indicator was found.
- The executable is unsigned even though code signing is applicable.
- APEX produced one generic malicious detection out of 74 engines.
- A community annotation alleges keylogging, but provides no corroborated engine family or observed offensive technique.
- The host-reputation check covered both domains but not every individual IP recorded by the sandbox.
Use the copy supplied with Windows or obtain it from an official Microsoft channel, especially because this executable lacks a signature. 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
Complete1 of 74 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Partial2 of 22 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
- 10MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 9spawned processes
- 22network contacts
- 17filesystem & 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.
- www.microsoft.com
- res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft
- 20.99.133.109
- 23.216.147.64
- 192.168.0.76
- 192.229.211.108
- 131.253.33.203
- a83f:8110:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff
- 20.99.186.246
- 23.216.147.76
- 20.99.185.48
- 23.198.171.50
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\GoogleUpdaterInternalService126.0.6462.0\Start
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\GoogleUpdaterInternalService126.0.6462.0\ImagePath
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\TPG
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\TPG\Recognizers
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\TPG\Recognizers\GestureTimeout
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER17D8.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER18B3.tmp.csv
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER18F2.tmp.txt
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER19BE.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER19CE.tmp.csv
- Microsoft-Windows-SnippingTool-InitializingMutex
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Microsoft-Windows-SnippingTool-InitializingMutex
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
- 1 / 74engines flagged
- 134sources 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 134 sources.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 02
1 of 74 antivirus engines flagged the file, including APEX.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 03
The hash has been submitted 180 times from 134 sources.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceSaved report factsObserved at - 04
Scanned file: SnippingTool.exe — 4e30a8c88c755944145f2bc6c935ee5107c56832772f2561229e20ceab1d10d2
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\software.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — %SAMPLEPATH%\SnippingTool.exe
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
Contacted host: www.microsoft.com — Saved reputation verdict: safe.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceContacted-host cross-checkObserved at - 08
Contacted host: res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft — 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.
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
- SnippingTool.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- No verified publisher
- Size
- 3.1 MB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 29, 2026, 11:43 PM UTC
4e30a8c88c755944145f2bc6c935ee5107c56832772f2561229e20ceab1d10d2Safety & 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 SnippingTool.exe safe?
What is SnippingTool.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected SnippingTool.exe?
What is the SHA-256 hash of SnippingTool.exe?
Is it safe to run SnippingTool.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of SnippingTool.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.