Identifier / Programs / Windows
windbg.exe
Windows GUI symbolic debugger file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Execute 1 ATT&CK technique 1 documented command 4 known copies with hashes
How windbg.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 windbg.exe.
1 documented command
Execute T1127 Trusted Developer Utilities Proxy Execution User privileges
Launches a command line through the debugging process; optionally add -G to exit the debugger automatically.
windbg.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 windbg.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 windbg.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 windbg.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\windbg.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
179730146a9a47df359128f3a49bf09de932f6f9eecf5bdc96918c5647598bc510.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm\windbg.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
8b53689b92ee1492a61dba5476496a807a7954e0171c1b35c906c3eab1c3746510.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\windbg.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
b1ce9d33e94cfb98989147ad1a9cc190ff2edb97ba24f47a80c5adaab01ee80c10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\arm64\windbg.exe · signed by Microsoft Windows Kits Publisher
e864c79ebaf473cd7dd5859de079635fa09dda67725e81c1d1907ba9e406c290From 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.