Ceplin Command Identifier

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

Opens the identifier with your command. It is read in your browser and sent nowhere.

How cdb.exe is abused

documented by LOLBAS

Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution

-cf
-o

Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution

-pd
-pn

Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution

-c

Each 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

from LOLBAS, each read by the identifier

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.exe
Identify

Trips 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}
Identify

Trips 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}"
Identify

Trips 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

Sigma process creation rules
mediumPotential Binary Proxy Execution Via Cdb.EXEBeyu Denis, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
T1106Native API
T1127Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution
T1218System Binary Proxy Execution

Is it the real cdb.exe?

file version info and known copies
Installed inC:\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\
Signed byMicrosoft Windows Kits Publisher
ProductMicrosoft Windows Operating System, Microsoft Corporation
DescriptionSymbolic Debugger for Windows

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

1eb127e7f0983ba09fc6559ff72adf11ffcf7116f94b5fdb18f5a728fe8545d7

10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher

264bba62780e62af8a1245fd2345aae5cfbffeddda68e84f5561e3192473a821

10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation

d7fc9fb671d2e92ecd3d7a6bcc80a889eb52b067fd33b1b524547bfa5c303225

10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\cdb.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation

f63fe4cb27bb604707ab4e5a96bbf74d9940a278f488740dc72f6788b2cd422e

From 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.