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Verdict Suspicious

Analyzed , 1 month ago

Is setup.exe safe? Treat it as suspicious.

No malicious files it created or known-bad hosts were observed, and the file has been submitted thousands of times over years.

Read the whole reasonShow less

Why Suspicious? 5 antivirus engines flag it; nothing else confirms it.

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

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

Treat as untrusted; obtain a signed copy from the legitimate publisher or avoid running altogether.

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 install 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 installed 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

setup.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

5 of 71 flagged

  • Flagged 5
  • No detection 66
  • No result 4
Filesetup.exe4.3 MBSHA-256 8df42fa48c67…37cbed
  • Code signing Unsigned
  • Test run Completed
  • First seen 9y ago
5 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flag it, including Malwarebytes and Dr.Web.

Chapter 02

Why we think so

3 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

The combination of two major detections, offensive MITRE techniques, and an import-table fingerprint match to a previously malicious sample outweighs the lack of malicious files it created or host reputation hits. Unsigned status and installer filename further reduce trust. Mixed RAG verdicts and widely seen and long established prevalence keep the file from a definitive malicious call.

Where this verdict could be wrong2 caveats
  • contactedHosts.maliciousHosts.length=0 and droppedChildren.hasMaliciousChild=false — no confirmed malicious network or child activity.
  • The file is widely seen and long established with 2254 submissions — long-standing file rather than new threat.

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
  • 21sandbox rule tags
  • 14spawned processes
  • 3network contacts
  • 40filesystem & 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).

  • Moderate concern: Ran commands or a script on the test computer.

  • Moderate concern: Used an unusual way to talk to a server.

  • Moderate concern: Unpacked hidden content while it ran.

  • Moderate concern: Checked whether it was running on a test computer.

  • Note: Read the user name of the test computer.

  • Note: Talked to servers over the internet during the test run.

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

  • Not confirmed: A sandbox rule tagged this run as code injection, but no injected program was recorded.

  • 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

      setup.exe

      8df42fa48c67a866fea80a7e7c6ace2485050b17195507fe334d5cb12037cbed

      Uploaded file

  2. Processes

    What ran

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

      executable.exe

      "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\executable.exe"

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

      executable.tmp

      "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\is-BDFJ7.tmp\executable.tmp" /SL5="$30172,3742188,140800,C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\executable.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

      996E.tmp

      C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\is-KO7QE.tmp\996E.tmp

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

      _shfoldr.dll

      C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\is-L6TML.tmp\_isetup\_shfoldr.dll

      Test run
    3. +1 more recorded observation

  4. Network

    Hosts contacted

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

      23.215.176.19

      Contacted during the test run.

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

      23.198.146.35

      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

5 of the 71 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: 5 of 71 engines flagged it · 4 gave no result Details for antivirus engines
Sandbox runVirusTotal sandboxesCompleteRuntime behaviour was recorded Details for sandbox run
Contacted hostsMalwareTips URL scannerPartial1 of 15 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete Details for contacted hosts
Signature rulesYARAify community rules + MalwareTips rulesComplete1 MalwareTips behaviour rule Details for signature rules
Malware sample databaseabuse.ch MalwareBazaarCompleteNot listed
Known-software referenceCIRCL hashlookupCompleteNo match

Engines that flagged it 5

  • DrWeb (major engine)Trojan.Winlock.14244
  • TrendMicro-HouseCall (major engine)Trojan.Win32.Gen.TL0101EN26ZR
  • alibabacloudTrojan
  • MalwarebytesRiskWare.Crack
  • Paloaltogeneric.ml

File fingerprint

Last analyzed
Sep 1, 2026, 11:34 AM UTC
SHA-256
8df42fa48c67a866fea80a7e7c6ace2485050b17195507fe334d5cb12037cbed
SHA-1
afaf9949ad7e5fab2df8b1ce0ad415fff4124234
MD5
9ca63cce0cd844c85dea3fced58e5d63

About this file

setup.exe is a Win32 EXE file of 4.3 MB.

Type and size
Win32 EXE · 4.3 MB
Signer
UnsignedNo code signature.
First seen
Aug 11, 2017On VirusTotal.
Submitted by
1,810 distinct sources
Packer
None detected
Entropy
8.00 of 8

First scanned

Chapter 05

Questions & answers

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

Is setup.exe safe, or is it malware?
setup.exe is rated Suspicious: some signs point to a problem, but nothing confirms it is harmful. 5 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flag it, some as winlock. Don't install it unless you're sure where it came from. If you need the software, download a fresh installer from the developer's own website.
What is setup.exe?
setup.exe is a software installer, about 4.3 MB. It carries no version information saying what it is or who made it. VirusTotal first saw it on Aug 11, 2017.
How many antivirus engines detected setup.exe?
5 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flag setup.exe, including Malwarebytes and Dr.Web. We weigh which engines flagged it and what else the scan found, not just the count.
I already downloaded and installed setup.exe — what should I do?
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 setup.exe?
The SHA-256 fingerprint of setup.exe is 8df42fa48c67a866fea80a7e7c6ace2485050b17195507fe334d5cb12037cbed, and its MD5 is 9ca63cce0cd844c85dea3fced58e5d63. 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 setup.exe?
This report reflects the scan on Sep 1, 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

Other files people checked with the same name. A matching name does not make two files the same: only the SHA-256 fingerprint identifies a file.

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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.