Identifier / Programs / Windows
printbrm.exe
Print BRM command line tool file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Download, ADS 1 Sigma rule name it 2 ATT&CK techniques 2 documented commands 6 known copies with hashes
How printbrm.exe is abused
Each abuse is LOLBAS's category and the options and words it uses; the full write-up is on LOLBAS's page for printbrm.exe.
2 documented commands
Download T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer User privileges
Create a ZIP file from a folder in a remote drive
PrintBrm -b -d {PATH_SMB:folder} -f {PATH_ABSOLUTE:.zip}IdentifyTrips 1 Sigma rule: highPrintBrm ZIP Creation of Extraction by frack113
ADS T1564.004 Hide Artifacts: NTFS File Attributes User privileges
Extract the contents of a ZIP file stored in an Alternate Data Stream (ADS) and store it in a folder
PrintBrm -r -f {PATH_ABSOLUTE}:hidden.zip -d {PATH_ABSOLUTE:folder}IdentifyTrips 1 Sigma rule: highPrintBrm ZIP Creation of Extraction by frack113
All 2 commands the identifier reads trip a Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for printbrm.exe, by Elliot Killick, 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 printbrm.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 printbrm.exe?
C:\Windows\system32\spool\tools\6 known copies
10.0.22000.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\tools\PrintBrm.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows
dc41e345bd86205664b30491185602052699af445263e9da4f9f6838871eddfa10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Windows\system32\spool\tools\PrintBrm.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows
3f6e33095973f37e7dfd51d511f116f37d92ecd0383bafd7fc0e76f37f3d053110.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Windows\system32\spool\tools\PrintBrm.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows
68dfb48a2a78893ffdcd8d02d24dc8bbf95699857da95862b034e6eb885b6ef210.0.18362.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\tools\PrintBrm.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows
690782126961316f81720bec4ea9e160c8fde2837b468487a41ba27568f1120710.0.17763.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Windows\system32\spool\tools\PrintBrm.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows
71b5f4aa8d12dd4b7982b2d5607cb9b5f40c7e7676dc36f2aeeb48256111725110.0.14393.0 (rs1_release.160715-1616) · C:\Windows\system32\spool\tools\PrintBrm.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows
1fe86d2c761b0cf8de373875d225ccc1b1d9364f284e581bde8bd16b146e03f4From 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.