iexplore.exe
Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.
Summary
Internet Explorer web browser (legacy). Largely deprecated and replaced by Edge. Still present on many systems for backward compatibility and enterprise web application access.
iexplore.exe is the 191st most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 80,252 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer and it is most often launched by iexplore.exe.
Get this in your tools
The same record for iexplore.exe, by REST or as an MCP tool. Free key, no card.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $ECHOTRAIL_KEY" \
https://api.echotrail.io/v1/process/iexplore.exeFree returns the summary. Team returns the full record you see on this page. Endpoint docs
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer56.21%
- C:\Program Files\internet explorer43.79%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 74561199a186d36a6169d753bb88886be326e63416e75930f8ff929e93dd12ea12.53%
- 7ccf5cf491eca6fb2d4178b86547f2fb88aca108927f1743962e14dbac2d945510.11%
- d013bfe71cc889b512844e249678abe0535dfb2961dd601b7677e6101d6b8f959.6%
- 6eda2f58189675e23011e5a39fcbfdd4aa8846feb99c5e347bbd3071f30bd5ed6.8%
- 8333f6172a6bfe0acb32641d4bd272e0fcc6eb9a09f7da184487066a26a063726.43%
- 4b15e5d66e2500549bc55c8cb0d6d1667cbc00ed0040b1b54f815232130a60db5.62%
- 8dea16e513f70e1a98be6ec48439b5499d2c740247716f6bcb990b7c305ec0a05.26%
- e582676ec900249b408ab4e37976ae8c443635a7da77755daf6f896a172856a34.81%
- c8df7006dcb7239aa9ce3124f03b48613719d243c24d805483001d7006422c554.67%
- b4a0b6c720f9d4422cfffff0774475d6bc7e47c43fe5ab5962c205f40287e07a3.35%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- svchost.exe31.07%
- explorer.exe27.85%
- services.exe22.61%
- userinit.exe12.23%
- OUTLOOK.EXE3.47%
- iexplore.exe1.26%
- OpenWith.exe0.14%
- winlogon.exe0.12%
- lync.exe0.12%
- KeePass.exe0.1%
Top Parents
- iexplore.exe56.32%
- svchost.exe24.05%
- explorer.exe17%
- OUTLOOK.EXE1.73%
- rundll32.exe0.16%
- OpenWith.exe0.09%
- lync.exe0.06%
- KeePass.exe0.05%
- chrome.exe0.04%
- MSOXMLED.EXE0.03%
Top Children
- iexplore.exe61.38%
- Dashlane.exe18.14%
- ie_to_edge_stub.exe3.57%
- IESettingSync.exe2.79%
- msedge.exe2.66%
- mfpmp.exe1.9%
- AcroRd32.exe1.43%
- WerFault.exe1.09%
- rundll32.exe0.87%
- ssvagent.exe0.79%
Security Analysis
What does iexplore.exe normally do?
Located in C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer or C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer.
When is iexplore.exe suspicious?
Spawning shells. DLL sideloading. Being launched by unusual parents or scheduled tasks.
How do attackers abuse iexplore.exe?
Legacy browser with known vulnerabilities. DLL sideloading. COM object abuse. IE is frequently used in exploitation due to its legacy attack surface.
Detection guidance
Monitor for shell spawning. Consider whether IE should be running at all in the environment — many organizations have deprecated it.
False positive notes
Some legacy enterprise web applications still require IE. Outlook may launch IE for certain content.
Related Processes
Ask Rocky about iexplore.exe
Rocky is the free chat demo. It answers from this same dataset, no account needed.
This page is the Team-tier API record for iexplore.exe. The free tier returns the summary, 500 lookups a month. Or ask Rocky.