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Verdict Suspicious

Analyzed , 2 months ago

Is steamclient_loader.exe safe? Treat it as suspicious.

Unsigned 1201-day-old EXE with 17/70 detections, mostly less reliable, and benign network activity.

Why Suspicious? 17 antivirus engines flag it; nothing else confirms it.

Limited evidence · One sign points to a problem; nothing else confirms it.

Don't run it until you know where it came from

Treat as unverified; obtain Steam client components only from official Valve distribution channels.

What to do now4 steps

Some signs point to a problem, but nothing confirms it is harmful. Treat it with caution.

What to do

  1. Don't run it unless you're sure where it came from.

  2. Check where you got it: an unexpected attachment, a link someone sent you or a re-upload is a red flag.

  3. If you can't confirm where it came from, delete it. If you need the program, download it again from the publisher's own website.

If you already ran it

  1. Stop using it, run a full scan with your antivirus and watch for unexpected behavior or security alerts.

Not sure what to do?

Ask the MalwareTips community before you run it. If you already ran it, follow the cleanup guide.

Paste this report's link in your topic so helpers can see what was found.

Why we think so

Share this file report

steamclient_loader.exe: Suspicious — MalwareTips file scan

The link always shows the latest result for this exact file (its SHA-256 fingerprint).

Reads the latest antivirus results for this file's hash. Nothing is uploaded.

Antivirus results

17 of 70 flagged

  • Flagged 17
  • No detection 53
  • No result 5
Filesteamclient_loader.exe100.9 kBSHA-256 6d76785ff980…22a5a0
  • Code signing Unsigned
  • Test run Completed
  • First seen 3y ago
17 of the 70 antivirus engines that checked it flag it, including Trellix (McAfee) and Fortinet.

Chapter 02

Why we think so

2 points against it and 2 in its favour, checked against the scan evidence.

MT AI Engine · Verdict analysis

The reasoning behind this verdict

Analyst conclusion

One major antivirus engine flags it as PossibleThreat while 15 major antivirus engines report clean.

Where this verdict could be wrong1 caveat
  • communityComments include three FileScan.IO reports claiming MALICIOUS with 100/100 confidence, though these are third-party annotations without major antivirus engine backing.

These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.

6 sources checked · 5 complete · 1 partial. See every source

Chapter 03

What it did in our test

It ran in our isolated test environment; no test environment rated what it did as risky.

Test run summary

Capture complete
  • 9sandbox rule tags
  • 2spawned processes
  • 4network contacts
  • 36filesystem & mutex artifacts

What the test run showed

What the file did on a test computer

Confirmed in the test run

  • Moderate concern: Contains packed or scrambled code that is harder to inspect (common in installers too).

  • Note: Read basic details of the test computer, such as its Windows version.

  • Note: Looked through folders on the test computer (most installers do this).

  • Note: Loaded extra code modules while running.

  • Note: Connected to 4 servers during the test run.

Sandbox labels we could not confirm (common in safe files too)

  • Not confirmed: A sandbox rule tagged this run as recording keystrokes; no keylogging was confirmed.

  • Not confirmed: A sandbox rule tagged this run as changing how Windows loads code; nothing confirms it.

This file was run on a test computer (a sandbox), not on yours. Labels we could not confirm are listed so you can see them, but they are not treated as evidence against the file.

Recorded behavior

What happened in the test

Grouped by step. The order is not a timeline.

Seen in the test runWorked out from other results

  1. Input file

    The submitted object

    1
    1. Evidence 1 of 7: FileSeen in the test run

      steamclient_loader.exe

      6d76785ff9806540c469c3b466eeacacb5d129d38723d53936a90b419f22a5a0

      Uploaded file

  2. Processes

    What ran

    2
    1. Evidence 2 of 7: ProcessSeen in the test run

      software.exe

      "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\software.exe"

      Test run
    2. Evidence 3 of 7: ProcessSeen in the test run

      6d76785ff9806540c469c3b466eeacacb5d129d38723d53936a90b419f22a5a0.exe

      Test run
    3. +1 more recorded observation

  3. Files

    Created or changed

    2
    1. Evidence 4 of 7: Written fileSeen in the test run

      GUM7CCC.tmp

      C:\Program Files\Google\Temp\GUM7CCC.tmp

      Test run
    2. Evidence 5 of 7: Written fileSeen in the test run

      GUMA43B.tmp

      C:\Program Files\Google\Temp\GUMA43B.tmp

      Test run
    3. +1 more recorded observation

  4. Network

    Hosts contacted

    2
    1. Evidence 6 of 7: Contacted hostSeen in the test run

      23.209.116.25

      Contacted during the test run.

      Test run
    2. Evidence 7 of 7: Contacted hostSeen in the test run

      20.22.113.133

      Contacted during the test run.

      Test run
    3. +1 more recorded observation

7 facts from the test run. See the full activity list.

Chapter 04

Technical details

17 of the 70 antivirus engines that checked it flag it; no publisher signature.

Sources checked

Every check behind this verdict

6 sources checked · 5 complete · 1 partial. Complete means the check returned a usable result; it does not mean the file is safe.

SourceStatusResultChecked
Antivirus enginesVirusTotal · 75 enginesCompleteRisk signal: 17 of 70 engines flagged it · 5 gave no result Details for antivirus engines
Sandbox runVirusTotal sandboxesCompleteRuntime behaviour was recorded Details for sandbox run
Contacted hostsMalwareTips URL scannerPartial1 of 12 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete Details for contacted hosts
Signature rulesYARAify community rules + MalwareTips rulesCompleteNo rule matched
Malware sample databaseabuse.ch MalwareBazaarCompleteNot listed
Known-software referenceCIRCL hashlookupCompleteNo match

Engines that flagged it 17

  • Fortinet (major engine)W32/PossibleThreat
  • TrellixENS (major engine)GenericRXAA-AA!2A64F1E0FBB0
  • Antiy-AVLTrojan/Win32.Agent
  • APEXMalicious
  • CAT-QuickHealTrojan.Riskware
  • CTXexe.trojan.generic
  • CylanceUnsafe
  • GridinsoftTrojan.Win32.Gen.cl
9 more in the full engine list

File fingerprint

Last analyzed
Aug 22, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC
SHA-256
6d76785ff9806540c469c3b466eeacacb5d129d38723d53936a90b419f22a5a0
SHA-1
5601fd7b42835ba56fb13e0fe1915964ab0a42e4
MD5
2a64f1e0fbb0e0687bd41dedf3ab19e8

About this file

steamclient_loader.exe is a Win32 EXE file of 100.9 kB.

Type and size
Win32 EXE · 100.9 kB
Signer
UnsignedNo code signature.
First seen
May 9, 2023On VirusTotal.
Submitted by
3,682 distinct sources
Packer
None detected
Entropy
6.07 of 8

First scanned

Chapter 05

Questions & answers

Short answers to the 6 questions people ask most about this file.

Is steamclient_loader.exe safe, or is it malware?
steamclient_loader.exe is rated Suspicious: some signs point to a problem, but nothing confirms it is harmful. 17 of the 70 antivirus engines that checked it flag it. Don't run it unless you're sure where it came from. If you need the program, download it again from the publisher's own website.
What is steamclient_loader.exe?
steamclient_loader.exe is a Windows program, about 100.9 kB. It carries no version information saying what it is or who made it. VirusTotal first saw it on May 9, 2023.
How many antivirus engines detected steamclient_loader.exe?
17 of the 70 antivirus engines that checked it flag steamclient_loader.exe, including Trellix (McAfee) and Fortinet. We weigh which engines flagged it and what else the scan found, not just the count.
What should I do if I already ran steamclient_loader.exe?
No infection is confirmed: the rating is a caution, not a malware finding. 1) Check where it came from. If you can't confirm the source, delete it. 2) Run a full scan with your security software. 3) If the scan finds something, follow its removal steps and change passwords you typed on the device since then.
What is the SHA-256 hash of steamclient_loader.exe?
The SHA-256 fingerprint of steamclient_loader.exe is 6d76785ff9806540c469c3b466eeacacb5d129d38723d53936a90b419f22a5a0, and its MD5 is 2a64f1e0fbb0e0687bd41dedf3ab19e8. Two files with the same SHA-256 are identical, so use it to check you have exactly this file, not just one with the same name.
How up to date is this analysis of steamclient_loader.exe?
This report reflects the scan on Aug 22, 2026. A file's fingerprint never changes, but antivirus engines keep learning, so a rating can change later. To get a newer result, scan the file again: we refresh the antivirus results when the saved ones are out of date.
Chapter 06

Community

Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.

Related file reports

Recent reports on other files with the same rating.

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This report and its SHA-256 fingerprint are public, so the next person who checks the same file gets an instant answer; documents and images are listed by type instead of their file name. A file we had not seen before is uploaded to VirusTotal, whose security partners and subscribers can download it; MalwareTips deletes its own copy after the scan. If you ran this file and are worried, scan your device with up-to-date security software.