Safe
Legitimate HWMonitor 1.63 installer from trusted publisher CPUID with perfect clean scan across 70 engines and expected installation behavior.
6c8faba4768754c336…11a09cb064The reasoning behind this verdict
The MT AI Engine weighs every signal from this scan — antivirus detections, sandbox behaviour, code signing, prevalence and historical matches — to reach a single, evidence-based verdict.
No engines flagged this file malicious, with 17 tier-1 engines explicitly reporting clean. The CPUID signature is verified and matches our trusted publisher list. Runtime behavior shows standard installer actions like dropping HWMonitor.exe to Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor and creating a Start Menu shortcut. The process injection heuristic fired due to interaction with Explorer.EXE, but this aligns with monitoring software needs and is not corroborated by any detections or malicious outcomes. Medium prevalence and positive reputation further support legitimacy.
Each signal cites a concrete token from the evidence the arbiter saw — engine name, MITRE technique, signer string, or an exact count.
signing.trustedPublisher.matched=true ('CPUID')
engines.tier1Malicious=0, tier1ReportedClean=17 (Avast, BitDefender, ESET-NOD32, Kaspersky)
behaviour.filesWritten includes 'C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\HWMonitor.exe' and 'HWMonitor.lnk'
file.reputation=5, prevalence.uniqueSources=3457
- Trusted CPUID publisher signature
- 0/70 engine detections
- 17 tier-1 clean reports
- Expected HWMonitor install path
- Medium prevalence (5956 submissions)
This file is safe and appears to be the genuine HWMonitor installer. Run it confidently, but always prefer downloads from cpuid.com to avoid tampered copies.
What to do now
This file looks safe based on everything we checked.
This file is safe to use.
Good habit: only download files from the official website or an app store.
Keep your antivirus and Windows updates switched on so you stay protected.
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\is-5NPS0.tmp\hwmonitor_1.63.tmp
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\is-28NB3.tmp\_isetup\_setup64.tmp
- C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\HWMonitor.exe
- C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\unins000.dat
- C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\is-USUVC.tmp
- C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\is-USUVC.tmp
- C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\is-FFID1.tmp
- C:\Program Files\CPUID\HWMonitor\is-2VTQI.tmp
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\CPUID\HWMonitor\HWMonitor.lnk
- C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\CPUID\HWMonitor\HWMonitor.pif
- cversions.3.m
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\RstrMgr3887CAB8-533F-4C85-B0DC-3E5639F8D511
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\RstrMgr-3887CAB8-533F-4C85-B0DC-3E5639F8D511-Session0000
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- ac3706ebbb78cfba74e5…0aba8fNever scannednever seen before
- 6d4710fc7501868f85c1…5bbbebNever scannednever seen before
- 388a796580234efc95f3…136f95Never scannednever seen before
- 8a0887b83b26fb3d2e1a…c28058Never scannednever seen before
- c05ef5541be5ef7ecb87…af70d1Never scannednever seen before
- 980c0ef56e8fa669b17a…c73038Never scannednever seen before
- d595b569a4fa1558a433…9be23eNever scannednever seen before
- 02db6764d1f13b837b0a…4a2d5bNever scannednever seen before
- 6270005159ce90cc83e3…9b3b29Never scannednever seen before
- f9a3aa9335c68f5ee5fe…5eef3fNever scannednever seen before
YARA & heuristic rule matches
A researcher-curated or high-severity heuristic rule matched this sample. These rules target specific malware families and are near-definitive.
MITRE T1055 (Process Injection) observed — CreateRemoteThread / APC / reflective-DLL injection. The payload is being smuggled into a legitimate process to bypass AV hooks.
EvidenceC:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
0 detections across 74 engines
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.
How widely this file has been seen
Moderate prevalence — neither rare nor common. No strong prior applies.
Forensic fingerprint
- File name
- hwmonitor_1.63.exe
- Size
- 2.93 MB
- MIME type
- (unknown)
- Detected type
- Win32 EXE
- SHA-256
- 6c8faba4768754c3364e7c400a9d79ccbece156087be607583619f11a09cb064
- MD5
- 79248bcce8f639ecb02849d1eafe3844
- SHA-1
- 8ba3b2abd30447ecdb9623c8434271b54bfbdadf
- PE imphash
- 40ab50289f7ef5fae60801f88d4541fc
- First seen (VT)
- 4/3/2026, 5:21:52 AM
- Last analysis (VT)
- 5/4/2026, 8:25:15 AM
- First scan (MalwareTips)
- 5/4/2026, 11:05:41 AM
- Last scan (MalwareTips)
- 5/4/2026, 11:05:40 AM
- Code signer
- CPUIDverified
- Community reputation
- +5trusted
Safety FAQ
Common questions about hwmonitor_1.63.exe, answered from the scan data above.
- hwmonitor_1.63.exe appears safe. 74 of 74 antivirus engines report it clean. It carries a verified digital signature from CPUID. As a habit, only run files you downloaded from the official source, since attackers sometimes distribute trojanised copies of legitimate software under the same name.
- hwmonitor_1.63.exe is a Windows executable program, about 2.9 MB. Our analysis found no threat indicators for it. It carries a verified digital signature from CPUID. A file's name can be reused by different files, so we identify it by its cryptographic hash (below).
- None — all 74 antivirus engines we queried report hwmonitor_1.63.exe as clean. That's reassuring, though brand-new malware can briefly evade detection before vendors add signatures, so we also weigh the file's behaviour and reputation.
- Yes — hwmonitor_1.63.exe carries a valid digital signature from CPUID, which confirms the file hasn't been tampered with since that publisher signed it. A valid signature is a positive signal, but note that malware is occasionally signed with stolen or abused certificates, so it isn't proof of safety on its own.
- The SHA-256 hash of hwmonitor_1.63.exe is 6c8faba4768754c3364e7c400a9d79ccbece156087be607583619f11a09cb064, and its MD5 is 79248bcce8f639ecb02849d1eafe3844. 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.
- Based on this scan, yes — hwmonitor_1.63.exe shows no threat indicators and is properly signed. The important caveat is source: make sure you downloaded it from the official website or a trusted store, because attackers sometimes distribute malware-laced copies under a legitimate file's name. If your own antivirus flags it while we report it clean, that is most often a false positive, but verify the source before overriding your antivirus.
- This report reflects the scan run on May 4, 2026. Because a file's hash never changes, the identity of hwmonitor_1.63.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.
Reviews & malware reports(0)
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