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Verdict Malicious

Analyzed , 1 month ago

Is setup.exe safe? No, we rate this exact file malicious.

The executable is identified as a crack or hacking tool by Microsoft, Sangfor, and Alibaba, with 13 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flagging it overall.

Read the whole reasonShow less

Strong evidence · Two or more major antivirus engines agree.

Remove it unless you use it on purpose

Keep it only if you installed it on purpose for security testing. Otherwise delete it and run a full antivirus scan.

What to do now4 steps

This is a hacking tool. It is risky to keep and run, but finding it is not by itself a sign that the device is infected.

What to do

  1. Don't install it unless you got it on purpose for security testing on systems you own. Delete it, then empty the Recycle Bin.

  2. If you didn't put it on the device yourself, delete it and run a full antivirus scan: something else may have brought it.

  3. Tools like this often come with cracked or pirated software. If it came that way, treat the whole download as unsafe and scan everything it installed.

If you already installed it

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

If you opened or installed it

Avoid banking and sign-ins on that device until it is clean. These free MalwareTips guides walk you through it.

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

Why we think so

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setup.exe: Malicious — 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

13 of 71 flagged

  • Flagged 13
  • No detection 58
  • No result 4
Filesetup.exe6.1 MBSHA-256 c4d4e4552be6…c0bc30
  • Code signing Unsigned
  • Test run Completed
  • First seen 1y ago
13 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flag it, including Microsoft and Malwarebytes.

Chapter 02

Why we think so

7 points against it and 5 in its favour, checked against the scan evidence.

MT AI Engine · Verdict analysis

The reasoning behind this verdict

Analyst conclusion

Thirteen of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flagged the sample, including five major detections and a confirmed hacking tool designation. Microsoft, Sangfor, and Alibaba independently use crack or hacking tool labels, which is stronger than an isolated generic heuristic. One sandbox recorded five offensive MITRE techniques, including process injection and impairing defenses, although it did not issue a formal malware verdict. Four researcher YARA rules also matched, including shellcode and suspicious TLS-section rules. The executable is unsigned, and the available host-reputation check covered only aka.ms rather than all observed IP contacts. Broad prevalence and several non-detecting engines are counter-signals, but they do not outweigh the confirmed hacking tool labeling and corroborating behavior.

Where this verdict could be wrong5 caveats
  • 12 major antivirus engines did not flag the file, including BitDefender, ESET-NOD32, Fortinet, Avast, and Avira.
  • No sandbox returned a malicious verdict, although one sandbox recorded five offensive techniques.
  • droppedChildren inspected 10 children and found no confirmed malicious child, but all 10 child verdicts remain unknown.
  • A count of 1214 distinct submitters and a count of 1410 submissions indicate the sample is well established rather than newly observed.
  • contactedHosts found aka.ms safe, but it inspected only 1 host and did not cover the other observed IP contacts.

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
  • 35sandbox rule tags
  • 8spawned processes
  • 7network 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: Checked whether it was running on a test computer.

  • Moderate concern: Hid files or windows on the test computer.

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

  • Note: Listed the programs running on the test computer.

  • Note: Deleted files or logs during the test run (installers often clean up after themselves).

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 weakening security settings; no setting change was recorded.

  • 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.

Threat context

How hacking tools are used

Hacking tools are programs that can switch off security software, test passwords or attack other computers. Security professionals use them on purpose; criminals also bundle them with malware.

Bottom line:Keep it only if you installed it on purpose, and check how it got onto the device if you didn't.

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

      c4d4e4552be6befc6372440ce115ca9580a205091f8dfbc0669c06cf44c0bc30

      Uploaded file

  2. Processes

    What ran

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

      setup.exe

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

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

      setup.tmp

      "C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\is-R6B25.tmp\setup.tmp" /SL5="$4006A,5482592,140800,C:\Users\<USER>\Desktop\setup.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

      setup.tmp

      C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\is-R6B25.tmp\setup.tmp

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

      _setup64.tmp

      C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\Temp\is-FGPF3.tmp\_isetup\_setup64.tmp

      Test run
    3. +1 more recorded observation

  4. Network

    Hosts contacted

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

      96.7.170.175

      Contacted during the test run.

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

      23.198.74.242

      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

13 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: 13 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 13 contacted hosts were cross-checked; coverage is incomplete Details for contacted hosts
Signature rulesYARAify community rules + MalwareTips rulesComplete4 community YARA rules (generic only) · 1 MalwareTips behaviour rule Details for signature rules
Malware sample databaseabuse.ch MalwareBazaarCompleteNot listed
Known-software referenceCIRCL hashlookupCompleteNo match

Engines that flagged it 13

  • GData (major engine)Generic.Trojan.PSEB.7GDA12
  • Ikarus (major engine)PUA.Generic
  • Microsoft (major engine)HackTool:Win32/Crack!MTB
  • Sophos (major engine)Generic Reputation PUA (PUA)
  • TrendMicro-HouseCall (major engine)PUA.Win32.Gen.TL0101H726ZX
  • AlibabaHackTool:Win32/Crack.ff29a8db
  • DeepInstinctMALICIOUS
  • MalwarebytesRiskWare.Crack
5 more in the full engine list

File fingerprint

Last analyzed
Sep 9, 2026, 12:06 AM UTC
SHA-256
c4d4e4552be6befc6372440ce115ca9580a205091f8dfbc0669c06cf44c0bc30
SHA-1
75135bb085f47d60f9db3faa258ce96dfdcf76d2
MD5
a00ac7b5804c18b194685ea737c0d7af

About this file

setup.exe is a Win32 EXE file of 6.1 MB.

Type and size
Win32 EXE · 6.1 MB
Signer
UnsignedNo code signature.
First seen
Feb 3, 2025On VirusTotal.
Submitted by
1,214 distinct sources
Packer
None detected
Entropy
8.00 of 8

First scanned

Chapter 05

Questions & answers

Short answers to the 8 questions people ask most about this file.

Is setup.exe malware?
setup.exe is a hacking tool. It is flagged because it can be misused, not because it infects a device by itself. Keep it only if you use it on purpose; otherwise, delete it, then empty the Recycle Bin. 13 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flag it.
What is setup.exe?
setup.exe is a software installer, about 6.1 MB. It carries no version information saying what it is or who made it. VirusTotal first saw it on Feb 3, 2025.
How many antivirus engines detected setup.exe?
13 of the 71 antivirus engines that checked it flag setup.exe, including Microsoft and Malwarebytes. We weigh which engines flagged it and what else the scan found, not just the count. The rating comes from all the evidence together, not from this count alone.
I already downloaded and installed setup.exe — what should I do?
1) If you ran it on purpose, for testing on systems you own, remove it when you are done. 2) If you didn't download it yourself, delete it and run a full antivirus scan: something else may have brought it. 3) If it came with cracked or pirated software, treat that whole download as unsafe, scan everything it installed and change passwords you typed on the device since.
How do I remove setup.exe?
To remove setup.exe: 1) Delete it, then empty the Recycle Bin. 2) Run a full scan with your antivirus to check that nothing else came with it. 3) Check Settings > Apps and your startup apps for anything you don't recognise.
What kind of program is setup.exe?
Antivirus engines classify setup.exe as a hacking tool: a program that can switch off security software, test passwords or attack other computers.
What is the SHA-256 hash of setup.exe?
The SHA-256 fingerprint of setup.exe is c4d4e4552be6befc6372440ce115ca9580a205091f8dfbc0669c06cf44c0bc30, and its MD5 is a00ac7b5804c18b194685ea737c0d7af. 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 9, 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.