Is Plutonium.Updater.App.exe safe?
Unsigned packed .NET executable with low-trust detection, YARA hits, and offensive MITRE techniques but no tier-1 consensus.
One low-trust engine flagged the file; 16 tier-1 engines reported clean. YARAify returned 10 rules and sandbox observed process-injection and credential-dumping techniques. Mixed signals and unsigned status keep the verdict at suspicious.
85d1d1ca4d5881d9b9…6f974a19703f0fRecommended next actions
Before running
Do not run it until the source and publisher can be verified independently.
If you already ran it
Stop using it, scan the device, and watch for unexpected behavior or security alerts. Get a fresh copy from the developer's official site or an official app store.
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 low-trust engine flagged the file; 16 tier-1 engines reported clean. YARAify returned 10 rules and sandbox observed process-injection and credential-dumping techniques. Mixed signals and unsigned status keep the verdict at suspicious.
The single malicious detection comes from a low-trust engine and no tier-1 engine agrees, lowering confidence in malice. However, the file is unsigned, packed, and triggered multiple high-severity heuristics including process injection and LSASS access. Ten YARA rules from the community add weight to the suspicious classification. Similar-hash history is mixed, with one prior malicious imphash match and three safe ones. No malicious children or known-bad hosts were found, but the combination of static and behavioural red flags prevents a clean verdict.
What We Detected
75 engines scanned the sample; only MaxSecure returned a malicious label. YARAify matched 10 community rules, including INDICATOR_EXE_Packed_Fody. The binary is a high-entropy .NET PE that is unsigned and likely packed.
Threat Behavior
Sandbox execution recorded MITRE techniques T1055 (process injection), T1485/T1486 (data destruction), T1547.001 (persistence), T1562.001 (defense evasion), and T1620 (reflective code loading). The sample wrote multiple DLLs and executables to %LocalAppData%\Plutonium and contacted IPs without domain names.
What To Do Now
Do not run the file. Keep Windows Defender and other endpoint protection enabled. If the file was downloaded from an official Plutonium site, verify the hash against their published checksums before considering execution.
Where this verdict could be wrong3 caveats
- contactedHosts.inspected=1 and maliciousHosts.length=0 — no complete contacted-host reputation result was available in cache
- droppedChildren.hasMaliciousChild=false across 10 inspected children
- prevalence.classification=common_old with 3723 unique sources
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- Zero tier-1 malicious detections
- No malicious dropped children
- no complete contacted-host reputation result was available contacted
- Common-old prevalence across 3723 sources
- Unsigned executable
- High-entropy packed .NET binary
- Sandbox observed process-injection and LSASS access
- 10 community YARA rules matched
- Direct-IP network traffic to 20 addresses
Treat the file as untrusted. Avoid execution until an official signed release or further independent verification is available.
Coverage & freshness
Complete means the check returned a usable result. It does not mean the file is safe.
Antivirus
Complete1 of 75 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Partial1 of 21 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete.
YARA
Complete9 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
- 30MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 15spawned processes
- 40network contacts
- 40filesystem & mutex artifacts
What this file does
Observed actions and their security significance
High concern: Injected code into another process, a technique that can conceal execution.
High concern: Used an input-capture technique that can record credentials or keystrokes.
High concern: Encrypted files or data, behaviour commonly associated with ransomware.
High concern: Changed an auto-start location that can make code run after sign-in or restart.
High concern: Attempted to impair or bypass security controls.
High concern: Manipulated how the operating system loads code, which can redirect execution.
High concern: Loaded code directly into memory instead of from a normal file.
These are observed capabilities from an isolated analysis. A technique does not prove malicious intent on its own, and the file never ran on your device.
Attack story
Runtime observations grouped by analysis stage. Arrows organize the stages; they do not claim chronology or causality.
Input file
The submitted object
- FileObserved
Plutonium.Updater.App.exe
85d1d1ca4d5881d9b98928c2006fb0eec9655e2705fe74088e6f974a19703f0f
01Uploaded file
Processes
Runtime execution
- ProcessObserved
Observed process
"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\program.exe"
02Isolated runtime analysis - ProcessObserved
Observed process
"C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\6758f19f-a372-418e-9272-f2fbdf24ab20.exe" /Q
03Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Files
Created or changed
- Written fileObserved
AppCore.dll
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\AppCore.dll
04Isolated runtime analysis - Written fileObserved
Ultralight.dll
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\Ultralight.dll
05Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Network
Hosts contacted
- Contacted hostObserved
172.67.71.109
Contact observed during runtime.
06Isolated runtime analysis - Contacted hostObserved
104.21.96.35
Contact observed during runtime.
07Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
7 recorded facts from one runtime window. Every fact remains independently traceable in Analyst mode.
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.
- 172.67.71.109
- 104.21.96.35
- 13.107.4.52
- 23.216.147.64
- 52.185.73.156
- 23.216.147.76
- 20.99.133.109
- 131.253.33.203
- 52.154.209.174
- 192.229.211.108
- https://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod.json
- https://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod/info.json
- https://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod/files/3a43f2989903bede21c4f599c86f3e10403e4bf1
- https://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod/files/01cd853173dca709c6a9c3ec8c68e5cb1ce7802a
- https://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod/files/405be77c308b4aeb678dd9235ceee201da8babb8
- https://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod/files/ebd5792c38e598e09de2e87f435c809927400e25
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\AppCore.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\Ultralight.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\UltralightCore.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\VibeCheck.exe
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\WebCore.dll
- C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\program.new.exe
- C:\Windows\System32\directx\websetup\SETE28B.tmp
- C:\Windows\System32\directx\websetup\SETE2F9.tmp
- C:\~!~ie6.~!~
- C:\Windows\msdownld.tmp\AS01EC8D.tmp\dxupdate.cab
- DXWSETUP
- Global\OneSettingQueryMutex+compat+encapsulation
- Local\__DDrawCheckExclMode__
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Global\RasPbFile
- \Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\__DDrawExclMode__
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- ed710d035ccaab091481…16997aNever scannednever seen before
- 6e39b3fdb6722ea8aa0d…d6cfb2Never scannednever seen before
- e3b0c44298fc1c149afb…52b855Never scannednever seen before
- b5338b858e5c65f9c36b…0fc8f8Never scannednever seen before
- 758ca54bac8288487cfa…ce8661Never scannednever seen before
- 9ed2701ba7c3349ecbbc…9b3d69Never scannednever seen before
- 4b053f45887ed35e584b…ce7f2bNever scannednever seen before
- b4d361bf13f98c96c21c…052082Never scannednever seen before
- d8e7d9feb3de8482b186…d30cdfNever scannednever seen before
- 322021311f86ded0f7d2…63be54Never 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.
- 9rule hits recorded
- 1 / 75engines flagged
- 3,723sources in submission history
Why these facts are shown
Each statement identifies whether it was directly recorded or derived from saved scan facts.
- 01
7 high-confidence signature or behavior rules matched this file.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSignature and behavior rulesObserved at - 02
1 of 75 antivirus engines flagged the file, including MaxSecure.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 03
The hash has a long, established submission history across 3,723 sources.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 04
Scanned file: Plutonium.Updater.App.exe — 85d1d1ca4d5881d9b98928c2006fb0eec9655e2705fe74088e6f974a19703f0f
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\program.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\6758f19f-a372-418e-9272-f2fbdf24ab20.exe" /Q
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
File written: AppCore.dll — C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\AppCore.dll
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
File written: Ultralight.dll — C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Plutonium\bin\Ultralight.dll
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 09
Contacted host: 172.67.71.109 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 10
Contacted host: 104.21.96.35 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at
Detection sources at a glance
Category: generic-trojan
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.
- INDICATOR_EXE_Packed_Fody
- NET
- NETexecutableMicrosoft
- PE_Digital_Certificate
- pe_imphash
The saved runtime evidence maps this activity to MITRE T1055 (Process Injection). The mapping supports possible process injection, but it does not prove the exact injection method or the operator's intent.
EvidenceC:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted -p -s WdiSystemHostSandbox observed process activity targeting LSASS (Windows credential store). Legitimate software has no business reading LSASS memory — this is Mimikatz-shape behaviour.
EvidenceC:\Windows\system32\lsass.exeThe sample contacted an external IP address directly and no application domain was recorded. Direct-IP traffic also occurs in legitimate installers and infrastructure, so this is supporting context only and requires corroboration from host reputation and other runtime evidence.
Evidence172.67.71.109 · 104.21.96.35 · 13.107.4.52Unsigned, packed PE with sandbox-observed network activity. The packing step hides the payload until execution; the network call fetches / reports for the next stage. Classic dropper / stager behaviour.
Evidencehttps://cdn.plutonium.pw:443/updater/prod.json
1 of 75 engines flagged this file
View all 75 engine results
Section entropy & packers
Executable sections have high entropy (7.2+) — the code is compressed or encrypted and only decrypted at runtime. Classic packing behaviour.
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
- Plutonium.Updater.App.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- No verified publisher
- Size
- 4.6 MB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 4, 2026, 10:49 AM UTC
85d1d1ca4d5881d9b98928c2006fb0eec9655e2705fe74088e6f974a19703f0fSafety & FAQ
Complete recovery guidance and answers for the next decision.
What to do now
We couldn't fully clear this file. Treat it with caution.
- Recovery step 01
Don't run it unless you're certain it came from a source you trust.
- Recovery step 02
Check where you got it — an unexpected attachment or a random download link is a red flag.
- Recovery step 03
If its origin cannot be confirmed, delete this file and use a fresh copy from a trusted source. Get a fresh copy from the developer's official site or an official app store.
- Recovery step 04
If you're still unsure, scan it again in a day or two — detections often catch up on newer files.
Safety FAQ
Direct answers grounded in the saved verdict and evidence in this report.
Is Plutonium.Updater.App.exe safe, or is it malware?
What is Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
What should I do if I already ran Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
How do I remove Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
What kind of malware is Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
Is Plutonium.Updater.App.exe digitally signed?
What is the SHA-256 hash of Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of Plutonium.Updater.App.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.