SearchProtocolHost.exe
Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.
Summary
Windows Search Protocol Host is part of the Windows Search service (WSearch). It hosts protocol handlers that crawl and access content from various data stores (file system, Outlook, OneNote, etc.) for indexing by the Windows Search Indexer.
SearchProtocolHost.exe is the 9th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 7,679,525 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by SearchIndexer.exe.
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Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3285.34%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW6414.66%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 2e934019907cdefc0e2eb87e81d21166b80fb565dd827a53f2e974b00afdfc5718.19%
- 878ecac9a2eff814f1a26ac806b2e6baf4209a2cf448397446791081af40b65613.9%
- 6d4e8f5d61098a743aed8a59c3535b66b457d43c368432963377744e8e94f23113.79%
- 2b1e747bf10b9efe5eb69f95af2a9efe7218d75319416d24d33c8681519c28298%
- 5d67443b4f05871414b1c5128b18659e4b4e85d95127986e0ce40e5c54ef30f95.19%
- 6e0e4560a2009e15ab7019b8e40584a36b59619959a2c71183adf040ea1e62a24.09%
- 1054e2f4b1b89cf39d794fb7bbfdf766fdd66d9279fb9be9ba2ac6b2afd824953.75%
- 782c36c541b2b240042717f26617c90af65d65a771534cbd1746c601d14ffb952.6%
- 6df3c88aefab0e00d8b912d2627c39b0a5adbfe4986e554b372172efa04744b72.51%
- 4f8cf68acdbe04fb51763358c3a57a9634cd4f4966619d1862962481c706c05c2.18%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- services.exe100%
- svchost.exe<0.01%
Top Parents
- wevtutil.exe<0.01%
- conhost.exe<0.01%
- backgroundTaskHost.exe<0.01%
- dllhost.exe<0.01%
- taskhostw.exe<0.01%
Top Children
- WerFault.exe91.16%
- conhost.exe3.4%
- find.exe1.36%
- chrome.exe0.68%
- GoogleUpdate.exe0.68%
- powershell.exe0.68%
- tasklist.exe0.68%
Security Analysis
What does SearchProtocolHost.exe normally do?
Located in C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Windows\SysWOW64. Always launched by SearchIndexer.exe. Multiple instances may run simultaneously. No significant child processes expected. High execution count reflects frequent indexing activity.
When is SearchProtocolHost.exe suspicious?
Parent process other than SearchIndexer.exe. Running from a non-standard path. Spawning child processes, especially shells or network tools. Making outbound network connections to external hosts.
How do attackers abuse SearchProtocolHost.exe?
Rarely directly abused. Potential target for process injection due to its trusted status and persistent execution. Name could be used for masquerading given its length and obscurity.
Detection guidance
Low priority for detection rules. Focus on parent process validation (must be SearchIndexer.exe) and path verification (must be System32 or SysWOW64). Any child process spawning is unusual.
False positive notes
High execution volume is normal. Multiple instances are expected. CPU spikes during indexing are normal behavior, not indicative of abuse.
Related Processes
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