Malware analysis ntoskrnl.exe Malicious activity | ANY.RUN

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File name:	ntoskrnl.exe
Full analysis:	https://app.any.run/tasks/5d6b6fe3-f84f-40f2-91df-37afd8708d50
Verdict:	Malicious activity
Threats:	Cobalt Strike is a legitimate penetration software toolkit developed by Forta. But its cracked versions are widely adopted by bad actors, who use it as a C2 system of choice for targeted attacks. Malware Trends Tracker >>>
Analysis date:	April 02, 2025, 09:02:53
OS:	Windows 10 Professional (build: 19044, 64 bit)
Tags:	golang cobaltstrike xor-url generic
Indicators:
MIME:	application/vnd.microsoft.portable-executable
File info:	PE32+ executable (console) x86-64, for MS Windows, 15 sections
MD5:	AA872F5B513F6EEA9C1D6BEE00B65BB1
SHA1:	6B589711033DDC30BBD3CAFCE12797A4AECB0D79
SHA256:	85063614C9D0CAB19C5CF00C048F131E0919CB84F05D96BE8923A1BC192A3C25
SSDEEP:	98304:TEojS1O4CPiabN6DVAAMtIDA0eComxm69GjMtuOkIsjx217pV5dSysxam5qglL55:LrDt

ANY.RUN is an interactive service which provides full access to the guest system. Information in this report could be distorted by user actions and is provided for user acknowledgement as it is. ANY.RUN does not guarantee maliciousness or safety of the content.

Launch configuration

Task duration:: 60 seconds
Heavy Evasion option:: off
Network geolocation:: off
Additional time used:: none
MITM proxy:: off
Privacy:: Public submission
Fakenet option:: off
Route via Tor:: off
Autoconfirmation of UAC:: on
Network:: on

Software preset

Internet Explorer 11.3636.19041.0
Adobe Acrobat (64-bit) (23.001.20093)
Adobe Flash Player 32 NPAPI (32.0.0.465)
Adobe Flash Player 32 PPAPI (32.0.0.465)
CCleaner (6.20)
FileZilla 3.65.0 (3.65.0)
Google Chrome (122.0.6261.70)
Google Update Helper (1.3.36.51)
Java 8 Update 271 (64-bit) (8.0.2710.9)
Java Auto Updater (2.8.271.9)
Microsoft Edge (122.0.2365.59)
Microsoft Edge Update (1.3.185.17)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - de-de (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - en-us (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - es-es (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - it-it (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - ja-jp (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - ko-kr (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - pt-br (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - tr-tr (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professionnel 2019 - fr-fr (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office профессиональный 2019 - ru-ru (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft OneNote - en-us (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Update Health Tools (3.74.0.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x64) - 12.0.30501 (12.0.30501.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 x64 Additional Runtime - 12.0.21005 (12.0.21005)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 x64 Minimum Runtime - 12.0.21005 (12.0.21005)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x86) - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X64 Additional Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X64 Minimum Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X86 Additional Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X86 Minimum Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Mozilla Firefox (x64 en-US) (123.0)
Mozilla Maintenance Service (123.0)
Notepad++ (64-bit x64) (7.9.1)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Extensibility Component (16.0.15726.20202)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Licensing Component (16.0.16026.20146)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Localization Component (16.0.15726.20202)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Localization Component (16.0.15928.20198)
PowerShell 7-x64 (7.3.5.0)
Skype version 8.104 (8.104)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057) (2.59.0.0)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057) (2.63.0.0)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4480730) (2.55.0.0)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB5001716) (8.93.0.0)
VLC media player (3.0.11)
WinRAR 5.91 (64-bit) (5.91.0)
Windows PC Health Check (3.6.2204.08001)

Hotfixes

Client LanguagePack Package
DotNetRollup
DotNetRollup 481
FodMetadata Package
Foundation Package
Hello Face Package
InternetExplorer Optional Package
KB5003791
KB5011048
KB5015684
KB5033052
LanguageFeatures Basic en us Package
LanguageFeatures Handwriting en us Package
LanguageFeatures OCR en us Package
LanguageFeatures Speech en us Package
LanguageFeatures TextToSpeech en us Package
MSPaint FoD Package
MediaPlayer Package
Microsoft OneCore ApplicationModel Sync Desktop FOD Package
Microsoft OneCore DirectX Database FOD Package
NetFx3 OnDemand Package
Notepad FoD Package
OpenSSH Client Package
PowerShell ISE FOD Package
Printing PMCPPC FoD Package
Printing WFS FoD Package
ProfessionalEdition
QuickAssist Package
RollupFix
ServicingStack
ServicingStack 3989
StepsRecorder Package
TabletPCMath Package
UserExperience Desktop Package
WordPad FoD Package

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MALICIOUS
- COBALTSTRIKE has been detected (YARA)
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- XORed URL has been found (YARA)
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
SUSPICIOUS
- Start notepad (likely ransomware note)
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- Reads security settings of Internet Explorer
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
INFO
- Reads the computer name
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- Checks proxy server information
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- Checks supported languages
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- Reads the machine GUID from the registry
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- Reads the software policy settings
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)
- Application based on Golang
  - ntoskrnl.exe (PID: 5956)

Find more information about signature artifacts and mapping to MITRE ATT&CK™ MATRIX at the full report

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No Malware configuration.

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TRiD

.exe	\|	Win64 Executable (generic) (87.3)
.exe	\|	Generic Win/DOS Executable (6.3)
.exe	\|	DOS Executable Generic (6.3)

EXIF

EXE

MachineType:	AMD AMD64
TimeStamp:	0000:00:00 00:00:00
ImageFileCharacteristics:	Executable, Large address aware
PEType:	PE32+
LinkerVersion:	3
CodeSize:	806400
InitializedDataSize:	89600
UninitializedDataSize:	-
EntryPoint:	0x70840
OSVersion:	6.1
ImageVersion:	1
SubsystemVersion:	6.1
Subsystem:	Windows command line

No data.

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All screenshots are available in the full report

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Total processes

131

Monitored processes

Malicious processes

Suspicious processes

Behavior graph

Click at the process to see the details

Process information

PID

CMD

Path

Indicators

Parent process

5956

"C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp\ntoskrnl.exe"

C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp\ntoskrnl.exe

explorer.exe

User:

admin

Integrity Level:

MEDIUM

Modules

Images
c:\users\admin\appdata\local\temp\ntoskrnl.exe
c:\windows\system32\ntdll.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernelbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\apphelp.dll
c:\windows\system32\bcryptprimitives.dll
c:\windows\system32\powrprof.dll
c:\windows\system32\ucrtbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\rpcrt4.dll
c:\windows\system32\umpdc.dll

6108

\??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\conhost.exe 0xffffffff -ForceV1

C:\Windows\System32\conhost.exe

—

ntoskrnl.exe

User:

admin

Company:

Microsoft Corporation

Integrity Level:

MEDIUM

Description:

Console Window Host

Version:

10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800)

Modules

Images
c:\windows\system32\conhost.exe
c:\windows\system32\ntdll.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernelbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\msvcp_win.dll
c:\windows\system32\ucrtbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\shcore.dll
c:\windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
c:\windows\system32\combase.dll
c:\windows\system32\rpcrt4.dll

7172

C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe

—

ntoskrnl.exe

User:

admin

Company:

Microsoft Corporation

Integrity Level:

MEDIUM

Description:

Notepad

Exit code:

Version:

10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800)

Modules

Images
c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe
c:\windows\system32\ntdll.dll

7208

C:\WINDOWS\system32\SppExtComObj.exe -Embedding

C:\Windows\System32\SppExtComObj.Exe

—

svchost.exe

User:

NETWORK SERVICE

Company:

Microsoft Corporation

Integrity Level:

SYSTEM

Description:

KMS Connection Broker

Version:

10.0.19041.3996 (WinBuild.160101.0800)

Modules

Images
c:\windows\system32\sppextcomobj.exe
c:\windows\system32\ntdll.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernelbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\advapi32.dll
c:\windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
c:\windows\system32\sechost.dll
c:\windows\system32\rpcrt4.dll
c:\windows\system32\bcrypt.dll
c:\windows\system32\oleaut32.dll

7240

"C:\WINDOWS\System32\SLUI.exe" RuleId=3482d82e-ca2c-4e1f-8864-da0267b484b2;Action=AutoActivate;AppId=55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f;SkuId=4de7cb65-cdf1-4de9-8ae8-e3cce27b9f2c;NotificationInterval=1440;Trigger=TimerEvent

C:\Windows\System32\slui.exe

—

SppExtComObj.Exe

User:

NETWORK SERVICE

Company:

Microsoft Corporation

Integrity Level:

SYSTEM

Description:

Windows Activation Client

Version:

10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800)

Modules

Images
c:\windows\system32\slui.exe
c:\windows\system32\ntdll.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernelbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\advapi32.dll
c:\windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
c:\windows\system32\sechost.dll
c:\windows\system32\rpcrt4.dll
c:\windows\system32\bcrypt.dll
c:\windows\system32\user32.dll

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Total events

867

Read events

864

Write events

Delete events

Modification events


(PID) Process:	(5956) ntoskrnl.exe	Key:	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Content
Operation:	write	Name:	CachePrefix
Value:
(PID) Process:	(5956) ntoskrnl.exe	Key:	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Cookies
Operation:	write	Name:	CachePrefix
Value: Cookie:
(PID) Process:	(5956) ntoskrnl.exe	Key:	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\History
Operation:	write	Name:	CachePrefix
Value: Visited:

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Executable files

Suspicious files

Text files

Unknown types

Dropped files

No data

Download PCAP, analyze network streams, HTTP content and a lot more at the full report

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HTTP(S) requests

TCP/UDP connections

DNS requests

Threats

HTTP requests

PID	Process	Method	HTTP Code	IP	URL	CN	Type	Size	Reputation
—	—	GET	200	23.216.77.36:80	http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/MicRooCerAut2011_2011_03_22.crl	unknown	—	—	whitelisted
6544	svchost.exe	GET	200	2.17.190.73:80	http://ocsp.digicert.com/MFEwTzBNMEswSTAJBgUrDgMCGgUABBSAUQYBMq2awn1Rh6Doh%2FsBYgFV7gQUA95QNVbRTLtm8KPiGxvDl7I90VUCEAJ0LqoXyo4hxxe7H%2Fz9DKA%3D	unknown	—	—	whitelisted
7844	SIHClient.exe	GET	200	2.16.253.202:80	http://www.microsoft.com/pkiops/crl/Microsoft%20ECC%20Update%20Secure%20Server%20CA%202.1.crl	unknown	—	—	whitelisted
7844	SIHClient.exe	GET	200	2.16.253.202:80	http://www.microsoft.com/pkiops/crl/Microsoft%20ECC%20Product%20Root%20Certificate%20Authority%202018.crl	unknown	—	—	whitelisted

Download PCAP, analyze network streams, HTTP content and a lot more at the full report

Connections

PID	Process	IP	Domain	ASN	CN	Reputation
4	System	192.168.100.255:137	—	—	—	whitelisted
—	—	51.104.136.2:443	settings-win.data.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted
—	—	23.216.77.36:80	crl.microsoft.com	Akamai International B.V.	DE	whitelisted
4	System	192.168.100.255:138	—	—	—	whitelisted
3216	svchost.exe	172.172.255.216:443	client.wns.windows.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	US	whitelisted
5956	ntoskrnl.exe	146.190.85.106:443	www.eff.letsencrypt.one	—	US	unknown
6544	svchost.exe	20.190.160.22:443	login.live.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	NL	whitelisted
6544	svchost.exe	2.17.190.73:80	ocsp.digicert.com	AKAMAI-AS	DE	whitelisted
2104	svchost.exe	40.127.240.158:443	settings-win.data.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted
7844	SIHClient.exe	52.149.20.212:443	slscr.update.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	US	whitelisted

DNS requests

Domain	IP	Reputation
settings-win.data.microsoft.com	51.104.136.2 40.127.240.158	whitelisted
crl.microsoft.com	23.216.77.36 23.216.77.19	whitelisted
google.com	142.250.185.142	whitelisted
client.wns.windows.com	172.172.255.216	whitelisted
www.eff.letsencrypt.one	146.190.85.106	unknown
login.live.com	20.190.160.22 40.126.32.68 40.126.32.134 20.190.160.66 20.190.160.131 20.190.160.3 20.190.160.14 20.190.160.64	whitelisted
ocsp.digicert.com	2.17.190.73	whitelisted
slscr.update.microsoft.com	52.149.20.212	whitelisted
www.microsoft.com	2.16.253.202	whitelisted
fe3cr.delivery.mp.microsoft.com	52.165.164.15	whitelisted

Threats

No threats detected

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No debug info

General Info

ntoskrnl.exe

AA872F5B513F6EEA9C1D6BEE00B65BB1

6B589711033DDC30BBD3CAFCE12797A4AECB0D79

85063614C9D0CAB19C5CF00C048F131E0919CB84F05D96BE8923A1BC192A3C25

98304:TEojS1O4CPiabN6DVAAMtIDA0eComxm69GjMtuOkIsjx217pV5dSysxam5qglL55:LrDt

Software environment set and analysis options

Launch configuration

Software preset

Hotfixes

Behavior activities

MALICIOUS

COBALTSTRIKE has been detected (YARA)

XORed URL has been found (YARA)

SUSPICIOUS

Start notepad (likely ransomware note)

Reads security settings of Internet Explorer

INFO

Reads the computer name

Checks proxy server information

Checks supported languages

Reads the machine GUID from the registry

Reads the software policy settings

Application based on Golang

Malware configuration

Static information

TRiD

EXIF

EXE

Video and screenshots

Processes

Behavior graph

Specs description

Process information

Information

Modules

Information

Modules

Information

Modules

Information

Modules

Information

Modules

Registry activity

Modification events

Files activity

Dropped files

Network activity

HTTP requests

Connections

DNS requests

Threats

Debug output strings