sihost.exe
Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.
Summary
Shell Infrastructure Host - manages shell UI elements including the taskbar, Start menu transparency, and Action Center.
sihost.exe is the 353rd most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 24,528 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by svchost.exe.
Get this in your tools
The same record for sihost.exe, by REST or as an MCP tool. Free key, no card.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $ECHOTRAIL_KEY" \
https://api.echotrail.io/v1/process/sihost.exeFree returns the summary. Team returns the full record you see on this page. Endpoint docs
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System32100%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 19a5b7bdf931c7d743b33d83fee89311233050822ffa7eec883264c5d30b9d1228.84%
- d804721b48234c2b1e6b4c8346022edf58c8aa5a60c9df949421c2aa2f0d885513.59%
- 40a86a19ef9afa0021ca59d08454034e6a6c37d620be583c26e05e1d55d11ca013.58%
- 8ee21a0ba8849d31c265b4090a9e2ebe8ba66f58a8f71d4e96509e8a78f7db0012.33%
- ad0fd3b9f8a6455c59c9cb3ef58d64804a5c0b7d45936f727904412282437a6b9.49%
- 09d94357241ebb37e4510c3a168178822c9458530a30d0e829f5759d6202834d5.53%
- 98b93560ef621b0943d66057aec90b90d47b007a03cfe6b11acf88d6aea67ecd2.94%
- 6b7ed70e0728d01c277ed90a1b4f538e17b009054b435792dc589022838e72f92.75%
- c52fdd94f2f9245947ecfd76620306918e5add004db7bc132d49cc21b5e76a982.36%
- 32fabbc09ca776a819d40cf3e33a3fe44bf1db72ea351845b20ed9ff528b64d42.11%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- services.exe100%
Top Parents
- svchost.exe97.77%
Top Children
- msedge.exe58.95%
- PhotosService.exe4.97%
- SnippingTool.exe3.68%
- hp.smart.exe1.23%
- mmc.exe1.12%
Security Analysis
What does sihost.exe normally do?
Runs from %SystemRoot%\System32\sihost.exe. One instance per interactive session.
When is sihost.exe suspicious?
Running from non-System32 path. Spawning command-line tools. Making unusual network connections.
Detection guidance
Verify path is System32.
Related Processes
Ask Rocky about sihost.exe
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This page is the Team-tier API record for sihost.exe. The free tier returns the summary, 500 lookups a month. Or ask Rocky.