Identifier / Programs / Windows
ntsd.exe
Symbolic Debugger for Windows file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Execute 1 ATT&CK technique 1 documented command 4 known copies with hashes
How ntsd.exe is abused
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution
-gEach abuse is LOLBAS's category and the options and words it uses; the full write-up is on LOLBAS's page for ntsd.exe.
1 documented command
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Launches command through the debugging process; optionally add -G to exit the debugger automatically.
ntsd.exe -g {CMD}IdentifyThe command the identifier reads trips no Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for ntsd.exe, by Avihay Eldad, 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 ntsd.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
Is it the real ntsd.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\x64\ntsd.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
15730d0fb2b857972371fa03910474e0971d0f2da7999c1d606c74c475dd289910.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\ntsd.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
71227c3fe96b7582111bdc4fc4c098228ca6c6c4f97cdec9aff4fc52c352e5d910.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm\ntsd.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
a989e057b11d4b4dd3737cd0091c8060552959e98c8b4958a58a3e68eb5d9be110.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm64\ntsd.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
bb00e51e6e6611e03464e640d31abb3ded6ed9fef6c65756b2341b4f39ad9776From 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.