Identifier / Programs / Windows
vshadow.exe
VShadow, Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Sample Requestor file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Execute 1 Sigma rule name it 1 ATT&CK technique 1 documented command 3 known copies with hashes
How vshadow.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 vshadow.exe.
1 documented command
Execute T1202 Indirect Command Execution Administrator privileges
Executes specified executable from vshadow.exe.
vshadow.exe -nw -exec={PATH_ABSOLUTE:.exe} C:IdentifyTrips 1 Sigma rule: mediumProxy Execution via Vshadow by David Faiss
The command the identifier reads trips a Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for vshadow.exe, by Ayberk Halaç, 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 vshadow.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 vshadow.exe?
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\arm64\C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x64\C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x86\3 known copies
10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x64\vshadow.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
436efb1d6574fa0dab562c938c074ba38ff0ff938884690cfd0293182bc395b510.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\arm64\vshadow.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
6546e380ea44c1e2966a2c27c2afcd6cb549abcb56ccfa9b0db15ddf075a7f1310.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.19041.0\x86\vshadow.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
ca6da10cebf8fb80bec9d501eaed55860fb7dad7e3e4079d7bed8e6523c87142From 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.