Is privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe safe?
One tier-1 detection and concerning sandbox indicators involving process injection, LSASS, persistence, and direct-IP traffic outweigh the otherwise weak family agreement.
Eight of 75 engines flagged this unsigned installer, although only Fortinet represents a tier-1 detection and no malware family has strong support. One sandbox run recorded process-injection, LSASS-related, persistence, and direct-IP indicators, so the file should not be run until its source and hash are independently verified.
8a49e74702fcb09776…9d24b0027b1663Recommended next actions
Before installing
Do not install it until the source and publisher can be verified independently.
If you already installed it
Stop using it, scan the device, and watch for unexpected behavior or security alerts. Download a fresh installer 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.
Eight of 75 engines flagged this unsigned installer, although only Fortinet represents a tier-1 detection and no malware family has strong support. One sandbox run recorded process-injection, LSASS-related, persistence, and direct-IP indicators, so the file should not be run until its source and hash are independently verified.
The engine picture is mixed: 8 of 75 engines detected the file, but only one tier-1 engine participated and the labels do not converge on a specific family. More importantly, the completed sandbox run mapped activity to six offensive techniques, including T1055 process injection and T1547.001 persistence, while a heuristic linked process activity to LSASS. The executable is unsigned and lacks publisher history, weakening confidence that it is an authentic Privoxy installer. Conversely, it is widely submitted, no malicious sandbox verdict was issued, no inspected child was identified as malicious, and researcher-curated intelligence produced no hits. The observed IP contacts were not fully reputation-checked because contactedHosts is unavailable, preventing a firm conclusion about command-and-control activity.
What We Detected
Eight of 75 antivirus engines flagged the executable. Fortinet was the only tier-1 detector, using the generic label W32/PossibleThreat; Gridinsoft reported Wacapew and TrellixENS used an Artemis heuristic label, but there is no strong family consensus. The executable is unsigned and has no established publisher history.
Threat Behavior
One completed sandbox run recorded six offensive techniques: T1055, T1134, T1486, T1547.001, T1548, and T1560. The strongest concerns are possible process injection, LSASS-related process activity, persistence behavior, and direct-IP connections. No malicious sandbox verdict was issued, and none of 10 inspected dropped files was identified as malicious, although all child verdicts remained unknown. Host-reputation coverage was not completed or saved for the observed IP contacts, so their safety cannot be established.
What To Do Now
Do not execute this copy on a production system. Keep endpoint protection enabled, obtain the installer from Privoxy's official release channel, and compare its SHA-256 hash or publisher-provided checksum before use.
Where this verdict could be wrong5 caveats
- Only 1 of 17 tier-1 engines flagged the sample, and 15 tier-1 engines reported it clean; there is no strong family consensus.
- behaviour.hasMaliciousSandboxVerdict=false, although this does not negate the offensive techniques recorded during the run.
- droppedChildren inspected 10 files without identifying a malicious child, but all 10 child verdicts remain unknown.
- The file is established rather than newly observed, with 227 sources and 244 submissions.
- similarHashes[0].verdict is safe, but matchKind=imphash and signerMatchesSubject=false make that comparison weak.
These are the assessment's weak points. If you believe one applies to your file, report the verdict and we'll re-review it.
- 15 tier-1 engines reported the sample clean
- No strong tier-1 family consensus
- behaviour.hasMaliciousSandboxVerdict=false
- droppedChildren.hasMaliciousChild=false across 10 inspected children
- 227 sources and 244 submissions indicate established prevalence
- 8/75 antivirus detections, including one tier-1 detection
- Unsigned Win32 executable with no signer history
- Sandbox mapping to T1055 process injection
- LSASS-related process activity surfaced by MalwareTips.Synth.CredentialDumper
- Persistence-related T1547.001 activity
- Direct-IP traffic without a completed contacted-host reputation check
Quarantine this copy and obtain a fresh installer through Privoxy's official release channel, then verify its checksum. Keep antivirus and endpoint protection enabled during verification and installation.
Coverage & freshness
Complete means the check returned a usable result. It does not mean the file is safe.
Antivirus
Complete8 of 75 engines flagged the file.
Sandbox
Complete1 isolated runtime environment contributed observations.
Network
Partial20 runtime contacts were observed without a completed reputation cross-check.
YARA
Complete3 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
- 32MITRE ATT&CK techniques
- 15spawned processes
- 20network contacts
- 19filesystem & 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: 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: Manipulated how the operating system loads code, which can redirect execution.
Moderate concern: Contained obfuscated or packed code that makes inspection harder.
Moderate concern: Runs hidden system commands (script or shell).
Moderate concern: Communicated over a common application protocol; malware can use this for command-and-control.
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
privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe
8a49e74702fcb09776d689a83b5c6913b11ff2e1696c837f349d24b0027b1663
01Uploaded file
Processes
Runtime execution
- ProcessObserved
Observed process
"C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe"
02Isolated runtime analysis - ProcessObserved
Observed process
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
03Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Files
Created or changed
- Written fileObserved
nsjB864.tmp
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjB864.tmp
04Isolated runtime analysis - Written fileObserved
user.action
C:\Program Files (x86)\Privoxy\user.action
05Isolated runtime analysis - +1 more recorded observation in Analyst mode
Network
Hosts contacted
- Contacted hostObserved
192.168.0.26
Contact observed during runtime.
06Isolated runtime analysis - Contacted hostObserved
184.27.218.92
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.
- 192.168.0.26
- 184.27.218.92
- 192.168.0.1
- 192.168.0.31
- 192.168.0.60
- 192.168.0.61
- 23.55.140.42
- a83f:8110:5400:5000:4d00:0:4600:5400
- 192.168.0.47
- 20.99.133.109
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjB864.tmp
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Privoxy\user.action
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Privoxy\user.filter
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Privoxy\AUTHORS.txt
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Privoxy\LICENSE.txt
- C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsyA77C.tmp
- C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\nsu5580.tmp
- Local\InternetShortcutMutex
- cversions.3.m
Files this sample writes at runtime
This file drops 10 children at runtime. None are currently flagged malicious in our cache.
- 290990696ba38e9d500f…afbd62Never scannednever seen before
- 023e3ecdae60aa96d60f…33d03cNever scannednever seen before
- 27a059d70639175b48a2…0bc933Never scannednever seen before
- 17c5f1a95b2e06d76856…a587f3Never scannednever seen before
- 5870b378361e1da6fae1…f405afNever scannednever seen before
- 29883fbc732eba90d95f…f83608Never scannednever seen before
- 387dead3fab4f6d222ca…d61268Never scannednever seen before
- b419c709b87391df1b6c…dc9a80Never scannednever seen before
- 7786bc040ace0bd8dec3…1a65e0Never scannednever seen before
- 3854e7248e9dd1b28a4e…6853bbNever 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.
- 3rule hits recorded
- 8 / 75engines flagged
- 227sources in submission history
Why these facts are shown
Each statement identifies whether it was directly recorded or derived from saved scan facts.
- 01
1 high-confidence signature or behavior rule matched this file.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceDerivedSourceSignature and behavior rulesObserved at - 02
8 of 75 antivirus engines flagged the file, including APEX and Cylance.
Verdict inputView chapterProvenanceObservedSourceAntivirus analysisObserved at - 03
The hash has a long, established submission history across 227 sources.
ProvenanceDerivedSourceSubmission historyObserved at - 04
Scanned file: privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe — 8a49e74702fcb09776d689a83b5c6913b11ff2e1696c837f349d24b0027b1663
ProvenanceObservedSourceUploaded fileObserved at - 05
Observed process — "C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe"
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 06
Observed process — C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 07
File written: nsjB864.tmp — C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\nsjB864.tmp
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 08
File written: user.action — C:\Program Files (x86)\Privoxy\user.action
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 09
Contacted host: 192.168.0.26 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved at - 10
Contacted host: 184.27.218.92 — Contact observed during runtime.
ProvenanceObservedSourceIsolated runtime analysisObserved 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.
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.
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\Explorer.EXESandbox 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.
Evidence184.27.218.92 · 23.55.140.42 · a83f:8110:5400:5000:4d00:0:4600:5400
8 of 75 engines flagged this file
View all 75 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
- privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe
- Format
- Win32 EXE
- Code signing
- No verified publisher
- Size
- 1.1 MB
- Last analyzed
- Sep 17, 2026, 7:30 AM UTC
8a49e74702fcb09776d689a83b5c6913b11ff2e1696c837f349d24b0027b1663Safety & 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 install 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. Download a fresh installer 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 privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe safe, or is it malware?
What is privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe?
How many antivirus engines detected privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe?
What should I do if I already installed privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe?
How do I remove privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe?
What is the SHA-256 hash of privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe?
How up to date is this analysis of privoxy_setup_4.0.0-1.exe?
Community
Member reviews and reports for this exact file hash.