Malicious
Softonic-signed installer masquerading as Cubase; OfferCore adware family confirmed by 5 tier-1 engines; signer has 100% malicious history.
77be81cb3805c7f4f7…7e753880e4The verdict, reasoned out.
Not a rules engine. The MT AI Engine reads every signal we collected, weighs them against history, and commits to an answer.
The evidence converges on a malicious bundler/downloader. Softonic's signer certificate carries a 100% malicious rate (0/2 safe, 2/2 malicious) in our historical database. Five tier-1 engines (ESET, Microsoft, DrWeb, Kaspersky, Symantec) flag the sample, with ESET and Microsoft explicitly naming OfferCore, a known PUA family. Our RAG system shows 2 prior verdicts of 'malicious' on files signed by the same Softonic certificate, both identified as OfferCore. The filename masquerades as a legitimate Cubase installer, but the Softonic signature reveals this is a repackaged installer designed to bundle adware. The combination of signer history, tier-1 family consensus, and RAG corroboration strongly indicates malicious intent.
Each signal cites a concrete token from the evidence the arbiter saw — engine name, MITRE technique, signer string, or an exact count.
signing.signer='SOFTONIC INTERNATIONAL SA', signerStats: 0/2 safe, 2/2 malicious (100% malicious rate, autoTrusted=false)
similarHashes: 2/4 prior verdicts 'malicious' (matchKind=signer) with reason=ai:malware_family_offercore, same signer, same family
tier-1 engines: DrWeb (Adware.Downware.20879), ESET (Win32/OfferCore.E PUA), Microsoft (PUADlManager:Win32/OfferCore), Kaspersky (HEUR:Downloader.Win32.Softonic.gen), Symantec (ML.Attribute.HighConfidence) — 5/5 tier-1 malicious
popularThreatLabel='adware.offercore/softonic', threat family OfferCore confirmed by multiple tier-1 engines
Filename claims 'cubase' (Steinberg audio software) but signed by Softonic (known bundler); brand mismatch pattern: legitimate product name + malicious signer
- File is digitally signed (verified by Authenticode)
- No dropped malicious children detected
- No malicious contacted hosts in our URL cache
- No external intelligence hits (CIRCL, YARAify, MalwareBazaar all negative)
- Signer (Softonic International SA) has 100% malicious history in our database
- Five tier-1 antivirus engines flag as malicious; OfferCore family confirmed by ESET and Microsoft
- Filename masquerades as legitimate Cubase installer; brand mismatch with Softonic signer
- OfferCore is a known adware/PUA bundler family
- Rare new file (age 0 days, 1 submission) — likely a newly repackaged variant
- No sandbox behaviour data available, but static signer + family evidence is strong
Block and quarantine this file. Do not execute. If you need Cubase, download directly from Steinberg's official website. Softonic-signed installers are known bundlers of adware; this sample's OfferCore family identification by multiple tier-1 engines confirms malicious intent.
offercore corroborated by 2 sources
- VT (75 engines)offercore
- MT AI EngineOfferCore
12 detections across 75 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 often this file shows up in the wild
Barely seen in the wild and first surfaced recently. This is the footprint of targeted malware the AV industry hasn't signatured yet — extra scrutiny is warranted.
Forensic fingerprint
- File name
- cubase-14.0.40-installer.exe
- Size
- 2.03 MB
- MIME type
- application/x-msdownload
- Detected type
- Win32 EXE
- SHA-256
- 77be81cb3805c7f4f777b030160f40c7dda226f7728ed2c0ab3ec97e753880e4
- MD5
- 21ec8bcceda551a87bb21e1055ebc651
- SHA-1
- 39b62a30d24890b4c2cfb972c5d83cc4b9afa588
- PE imphash
- 88016fcdef7f227c62171d0afad9aae4
- First seen (VT)
- 6/15/2026, 4:23:36 AM
- Last analysis (VT)
- 6/15/2026, 4:23:36 AM
- First scan (MalwareTips)
- 6/15/2026, 4:24:31 AM
- Last scan (MalwareTips)
- 6/15/2026, 4:24:31 AM
- Code signer
- SOFTONIC INTERNATIONAL SAverified
Reviews & malware reports(0)
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