bash.exe
Summary
Windows Subsystem for Linux Bash shell - provides a Linux-compatible command-line environment on Windows through WSL.
bash.exe is the 655th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 6,379 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Users\... and it is most often launched by bash.exe.
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Users\...53.22%
- C:\...44.35%
- C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin2.05%
- C:\Windows\System320.25%
- C:\Program Files\Git\bin0.13%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 89df5a57665b9dd9539d5054d8efddb76f75ce3e3b5f8de2f9273dea453c7ee352.19%
- 78d1760e7ead9d594cb0183e9632af761df9d4c46714bb92086d5de99351050d44.36%
- fc98a4cb037259e59c908778446fa4738087f3381547cafdc9ae1328193205850.99%
- 744343e01351ba92e365b7e24eedd4ed18ed3ebe26e68c69d9b5e324fe64a1b50.6%
- 797e2fd8f51acbe1da517b2ad56ad07f16e2649a85502c12341153a0e13463500.56%
- 0a0ec9b7259d0fbdaa037f1ff630cf37f097e0c82bbe8275c7084d59120644b00.5%
- 9d6121494ac51caef69a89bbf6943f9ae7c4f98555fd17c700aef455466938820.44%
- d597fec3b1a52a527aa67d63abb7aba582e64adaa6a4e41cddbba9907884dbad0.14%
- bc71f0f3d406a17d90ba2d915ab22858da8c5a2732866d5104dc1811951f90e90.06%
- 259c655a3a4654007b0c2c6800e626f3a69fe0b20afb5833c04cb10e3003116a0.05%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- bash.exe59.96%
- mintty.exe8.97%
- cmd.exe1.1%
- explorer.exe0.02%
- svchost.exe0.02%
- userinit.exe0.02%
Top Parents
- bash.exe96.24%
- mintty.exe0.44%
- cmd.exe0.14%
- javaw.exe0.13%
- explorer.exe0.03%
- RuntimeBroker.exe0.03%
- Code.exe0.02%
- powershell.exe0.02%
- sihost.exe0.02%
Top Children
- bash.exe54.83%
- busybox.exe16.97%
- gawk.exe7.48%
- mkdir.exe5.49%
- grep.exe2.93%
- ln.exe1.46%
- cygpath.exe0.96%
- ls.exe0.95%
- conhost.exe0.83%
- sed.exe0.38%
Rare or environment-specific process names are omitted from ancestry tables. Percentages are of all observed relationships.
Security Analysis
What does bash.exe normally do?
Used by developers for Linux-compatible command-line work on Windows. Launches the default WSL distribution.
When is bash.exe suspicious?
Execution on systems where WSL is not expected (servers, non-developer workstations). Called from unusual parent processes. Executing commands via bash.exe -c from scripts.
How do attackers abuse bash.exe?
Attackers use bash.exe to execute Linux commands that bypass Windows-focused security controls. EDR and application whitelisting tools may not monitor WSL processes. "bash.exe -c" can execute arbitrary commands in the Linux subsystem, evading Windows-based detection.
Detection guidance
Monitor for bash.exe execution on non-developer systems. Log command-line arguments, especially -c flag usage. Alert on bash.exe spawned by unexpected parents.
False positive notes
Developers and DevOps engineers routinely use WSL/bash.exe. Common on development workstations.
Related Processes
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Data from EchoTrail's dataset of ~346M Windows process executions. Last extracted 2026-08-04.