secedit.exe
Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.
Summary
Windows Security Configuration and Analysis tool - configures and analyzes system security by comparing current config against templates.
secedit.exe is the 487th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 12,360 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by powershell.exe.
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https://api.echotrail.io/v1/process/secedit.exeFree returns the summary. Team returns the full record you see on this page. Endpoint docs
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3258.77%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW6441.23%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 58348e21fb9ae1582e68aa07bf21f87d58db03fe12123b0df5bfb3a7e168db2658.35%
- 14376ddd07cf8df48803a3c0e606a66f6250bbe56e6fd99e83553ed617fffed817.73%
- 56cb815f0fda92c4658296692e4f70dee557137528482fe7a834296bfdb710c010.16%
- e4645cb6092a470d4a60d04d15e760b9959ff25281e208c737c376f379cbf2cd5.01%
- 343e8924ea917f83ded38fff89675a233011d82b2aba9d4a9675c24a039f5be54.38%
- 2fdc5c8b22694381e6055eacaa81acb9746f1c96c0cb87e618fc973b8413288f1.75%
- 72d0ea92ab75c3e740d95f4faa9dac82c2089565c3ea28aedf9b56fea7eb6c0b1.48%
- aa8bb9732afa8666981ecc6e9a5600f8f5e062d51dffe5d63758542848512fd70.65%
- d24642e2194d6f09b886990eafa0a40803ee53ea3f9d142435b5214291dba0620.42%
- 4f2996a979459f87db66b7f68bf11a8aac4cb691b667e4f2d2365caebb9d8eb50.06%
Process Ancestry
Top Parents
- powershell.exe56.93%
- cmd.exe41.23%
Top Children
- conhost.exe100%
Security Analysis
What does secedit.exe normally do?
Used by Group Policy to apply security templates. Admins use it to export/import security configurations.
When is secedit.exe suspicious?
Being used to weaken security settings. Exporting security databases (credential harvesting reconnaissance). Running outside of Group Policy refresh cycles.
How do attackers abuse secedit.exe?
Attackers can use secedit /export to dump security policy settings including account lockout policies. Can also modify audit policies to disable logging.
Detection guidance
Monitor command-line arguments, especially /export and /configure actions. Alert on security template modifications outside of change windows.
False positive notes
Group Policy refreshes regularly invoke secedit. Security compliance tools may run secedit for auditing.
Related Processes
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