Identifier / Programs / Windows
cdb.exe
Symbolic Debugger for Windows file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Execute 1 Sigma rule name it 3 ATT&CK techniques 3 documented commands 4 known copies with hashes
How cdb.exe is abused
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution
-cEach abuse is LOLBAS's category and the options and words it uses; the full write-up is on LOLBAS's page for cdb.exe.
3 documented commands
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Launch 64-bit shellcode from the specified .wds file using cdb.exe.
cdb.exe -cf {PATH:.wds} -o notepad.exeIdentifyTrips 1 Sigma rule: mediumPotential Binary Proxy Execution Via Cdb.EXE by Beyu Denis, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Attaching to any process and executing shell commands.
cdb.exe -pd -pn {process_name}
.shell {CMD}IdentifyTrips no Sigma process-creation rule.
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Execute arbitrary commands and binaries using a debugging script (see Resources section for a sample file).
cdb.exe -c {PATH:.txt} "{CMD}"IdentifyTrips 1 Sigma rule: mediumPotential Binary Proxy Execution Via Cdb.EXE by Beyu Denis, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
2 of the 3 commands the identifier reads trip a Sigma process-creation rule; 1 trips none. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for cdb.exe, by Oddvar Moe, at commit 2056cb766250 of 2026-09-26, under the GPL-3.0 and LOLBAS’s notice, with no warranty. Changed: Markdown is shown formatted. The source is in lolbas-gtfobins-commands.json.gz, and the full entry is on LOLBAS’s page for cdb.exe. The identifier reads each with LOLBAS’s placeholders filled in: a URL as https://example.com/file, a share as \\192.0.2.10\share\file, a path as C:\Data\file and a command as calc.exe.
What detects it
Is it the real cdb.exe?
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm64\C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm\C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\4 known copies
10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm64\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
1eb127e7f0983ba09fc6559ff72adf11ffcf7116f94b5fdb18f5a728fe8545d710.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
264bba62780e62af8a1245fd2345aae5cfbffeddda68e84f5561e3192473a82110.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
d7fc9fb671d2e92ecd3d7a6bcc80a889eb52b067fd33b1b524547bfa5c30322510.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
f63fe4cb27bb604707ab4e5a96bbf74d9940a278f488740dc72f6788b2cd422eFrom the file’s version info and the copies recorded by xCyclopedia (MIT). A copy in another folder, signed by someone else or with another hash is not necessarily malicious, but it is worth a closer look. In Ceplin, "<sha256>".whatis() says which known copy a hash is.