control.exe
Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.
Summary
Windows Control Panel host - opens Control Panel applets (.cpl files). Can be used to execute arbitrary CPL files.
control.exe is the 1167th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 1,429 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by explorer.exe.
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Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3297.41%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW642.24%
- C:\...0.35%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 22285e9725bd445c4015818389a9a1ed04c15e60d5d1fa2b52c4187b2a81cccc48.08%
- e91da8cba88d81737b982b29e2eaeb5ffa614e7256d8fb308633290702dd7d869.95%
- f7e1897f5f6f2c47917d94394245d6eb2e56eb1d8c9d7f7d9af3138d8290533c9.15%
- b3705873c8ccf1a5ef93318327e56374216536a0697f6517fe28560131965e6e8.28%
- b4da8e05b5102b8543506338d2bd8b87da07328451ef0d1741bd1eabe95bccd85.95%
- cb089c50698bee280244437bcaf56d3955402a582e5e928dbc8812a5d9c0ef4d3.2%
- d6e21da3be0701162a36f8c9f94e616b1a0c5fd4cc1b52efd81959cb257957c12.69%
- 54d9f98f36bc5511d281318b8022002f74ad30b6383696e861220e15ee68e5a32.32%
- 43fdb43cef2a3219c06d002b56d042c2d9387488f6662f77c5fc8f3333ccd56e2.03%
- 4774a931c9d97828323c9e829917d82c27a05dab9fea6a0cef9ebba59942231f1.6%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- userinit.exe84.35%
- explorer.exe5.53%
- svchost.exe4.5%
- winlogon.exe2.16%
- WerFault.exe1.03%
- cmd.exe0.75%
- msiexec.exe0.37%
- LogiOptions.exe0.28%
- OneDrive.exe0.19%
Top Parents
- explorer.exe87.61%
- cmd.exe2.31%
- sihost.exe2.17%
- RuntimeBroker.exe1.82%
- wksprt.exe0.98%
- AcroRd32.exe0.84%
- sdiagnhost.exe0.49%
- python.exe0.35%
- Acrobat.exe0.28%
Top Children
- mmc.exe64.96%
- rundll32.exe32.19%
Security Analysis
What does control.exe normally do?
Opens standard Control Panel applets when users access system settings. Loads .cpl files which are renamed DLLs.
When is control.exe suspicious?
Loading .cpl files from temp directories or user-writable paths. Loading non-standard .cpl files. Called from command line with a path to a custom .cpl file.
How do attackers abuse control.exe?
Attackers craft malicious .cpl files (which are DLLs with a renamed extension) and execute them via control.exe. This is a signed binary execution proxy: "control.exe malicious.cpl". Bypasses some application whitelisting.
Detection guidance
Monitor control.exe command-line arguments for .cpl files loaded from non-standard paths (outside System32 or known applet directories). Alert on control.exe loading CPL files from temp/download directories.
False positive notes
Users accessing Control Panel settings. Third-party software that installs custom CPL applets.
MITRE ATT&CK techniques
Related Processes
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