Ceplin Command Identifier

Identifier / Programs / Windows

installutil.exe

.NET Framework installation utility file version info (xCyclopedia)

LOLBAS AWL Bypass, Execute, Download 8 Sigma rules 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 installutil.exe is abused

documented by LOLBAS

AWL Bypass T1218.004 System Binary Proxy Execution: InstallUtil

-logfile
-logtoconsole
-u

Execute T1218.004 System Binary Proxy Execution: InstallUtil

-logfile
-logtoconsole
-u

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 installutil.exe.

3 documented commands

from LOLBAS, each read by the identifier

AWL Bypass T1218.004 System Binary Proxy Execution: InstallUtil User privileges

Execute the target .NET DLL or EXE.

InstallUtil.exe /logfile= /LogToConsole=false /U {PATH:.dll}
Identify

Trips no Sigma process-creation rule.

Execute T1218.004 System Binary Proxy Execution: InstallUtil User privileges

Execute the target .NET DLL or EXE.

InstallUtil.exe /logfile= /LogToConsole=false /U {PATH:.dll}
Identify

Trips no Sigma process-creation rule.

Download T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer User privileges

It will download a remote payload and place it in INetCache.

InstallUtil.exe {REMOTEURL}
Identify

Trips 1 Sigma rule: mediumFile Download Via InstallUtil.EXE by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

1 of the 3 commands the identifier reads trips a Sigma process-creation rule; 2 trip none. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for installutil.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 installutil.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
mediumFile Download Via InstallUtil.EXENasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
highHTML Help HH.EXE Suspicious Child ProcessMaxim Pavlunin, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
highSuspicious Microsoft OneNote Child ProcessTim Rauch (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Elastic (idea)
highSuspicious Microsoft Office Child ProcessFlorian Roth (Nextron Systems), Markus Neis, FPT.EagleEye Team, Vadim Khrykov, Cyb3rEng, Michael Haag, Christopher Peacock @securepeacock, @scythe_io
highPotential PowerShell Execution Via DLLMarkus Neis, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
mediumPotential Defense Evasion Via Binary RenameMatthew Green @mgreen27, Ecco, James Pemberton @4A616D6573, oscd.community, Andreas Hunkeler (@Karneades)
mediumLOLBIN Execution From Abnormal DriveChristopher Peacock '@securepeacock', SCYTHE '@scythe_io', Angelo Violetti - SEC Consult '@angelo_violetti', Aaron Herman
T1105Ingress Tool Transfer
T1218System Binary Proxy Execution
T1218.004System Binary Proxy Execution: InstallUtil

Is it the real installutil.exe?

file version info and known copies
Installed inC:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\
Signed byMicrosoft Windows
ProductMicrosoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Corporation
Description.NET Framework installation utility

4 known copies

4.8.4161.0 built by: NET48REL1 · C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows

56763f94d6998304d137f5c202fb2147da5f14a39f318c68a810fc351701486f

4.8.4161.0 built by: NET48REL1 · C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows

774adcef9cebc4b12c2c10d0a05ed3d4f59f739db38700e4a763085b8146137e

4.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1 · C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows

ac1a3f21fcc88f9cee7bf51581eafba24cc76c924f0821deb2afdf1080ddf3d3

4.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1 · C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows

d0f224023900420d0e541360144bfbfb03cbb936391ce6d3e98590ddca51bc6a

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.