Identifier / Programs / Windows
xbootmgr.exe
Performance Analyzer Power Transition Performance Testing Utility file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Execute 1 Sigma rule name it 1 ATT&CK technique 2 documented commands 1 known copy with hashes
How xbootmgr.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 xbootmgr.exe.
2 documented commands
Execute T1202 Indirect Command Execution Administrator privileges
Executes an executable after the trace is complete using the callBack parameter.
xbootmgr.exe -trace "{boot|hibernate|standby|shutdown|rebootCycle}" -callBack {PATH:.exe}IdentifyExecute T1202 Indirect Command Execution Administrator privileges
Executes an executable before each trace run using the preTraceCmd parameter.
xbootmgr.exe -trace "{boot|hibernate|standby|shutdown|rebootCycle}" -preTraceCmd {PATH:.exe}IdentifyNone of the 2 commands the identifier reads trips a Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for xbootmgr.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 xbootmgr.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 xbootmgr.exe?
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\1 known copy
10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) · C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\xbootmgr.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
8f4b6fe4bebb2451fa346f56021619cb856aa94efa9d50c059efe9f52be033cfFrom 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.