python.exe

by Python Software Foundation

Runtimemedium risk

Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.

Summary

Python interpreter. Executes Python scripts and provides an interactive Python shell. Commonly found in development, data science, security research, and automation environments.

python.exe is the 527th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 10,424 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\... and it is most often launched by python.exe.

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527th

most commonly executed Windows program

10,424

observed endpoint executions

Behavior

Top Paths

C:\...49.7%
C:\Users\...42.22%
C:\Program Files\Splunk\bin7.64%
C:\Program Files\pgAdmin 4\v7\python0.13%
C:\Program Files (x86)\DisplayCAL\lib0.09%
C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSCLI\runtime0.05%
C:\Program Files\Python3110.04%
C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\Access\Access Client\Python0.04%
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Shared\Python39_640.04%
C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Workbench 6.3 CE0.03%

Top Hashes (SHA256)

3093fcf263029ca1d799fea250a4e032d2c930a516f1513eeca688b343c836b338.1%
1d838ad026c7d81d410f41f929225aa39f3e4a0d178e4cebc0cc2b299b783cf521.06%
84481a1c5abc04d0b5665ffe18f156ae246028b215e7de1d24c2f5ded60c94e121%
35be23083b6d788412dcd72865675c78895be0220ebd18842fe9d9ce98aab3d510.5%
510d053a592ff7edac0cbf3c0f4a48fadf01099be441e01a1d8da98550e687cf5.03%
0467df606d98305b25a040e051cf8876a553a61da1031e51e6e77b15fb18b9640.79%
0cbf71efa09ec4ce62d95c1448553314728ed5850720c8ad40352bfbb39be99a0.75%
123328fe9a690ad5854c9e6d37ffbb38cd35af0e39c9b35e8567e914cdab266f0.74%
0db56ac7ba5f232f5f813109185a3bc885d8d428feb20997d497f586652477f20.55%
948c661cb52db262f947609a1485015c08791af110fcf45748f0dbb9bf5999b60.42%

Process Ancestry

Top Grandparents

Top Parents

Top Children

Security Analysis

What does python.exe normally do?

Located in various paths (C:\Python3x, C:\Users\*\AppData, virtual environments). Launched by itself (subprocess), IDEs (PyCharm), taskeng.exe (scheduled scripts), and cmd.exe.

When is python.exe suspicious?

Running on non-developer endpoints. Executing scripts from temp or download directories. Making outbound network connections in server-side exploitation scenarios. Spawning shells or system commands. Used as a staging language for attacks.

How do attackers abuse python.exe?

Python-based attack tools: many offensive security tools are written in Python (Impacket, BloodHound ingestors, custom C2 agents). If Python is not expected on a host, its presence may indicate attacker tooling. Python reverse shells and C2 agents. Script-based payload execution.

Detection guidance

Medium-confidence: python.exe on endpoints where Python is not expected. Python executing scripts from temp directories. Python making outbound network connections on non-developer machines. Environmental context is critical — python.exe is completely normal in development environments.

False positive notes

Extremely common in dev/data science/IT automation environments. Scheduled Python scripts for monitoring and reporting. Security tools (osquery-based, vulnerability scanners) may use Python.

MITRE ATT&CK techniques

T1059.006

Related Processes

cmd.exe powershell.exe

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