ctfmon.exe
Summary
CTF Loader - manages the Text Services Framework for alternative text input (handwriting, speech recognition, keyboard translation, IME).
ctfmon.exe is the 304th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 31,987 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by svchost.exe.
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3299.99%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW640.01%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 2044761993128fd254e71e5fe35b404bf5212b5cb9093d7a985373fb45fe23cd45.12%
- 087f663d2755fbd1c8b8461bc12ee3957130c750126bd13cc69295913250b62814.11%
- a0df21d82daa60f8181589f4ce96441891b6e13716f353e9d71c8b303cf398d212.48%
- 484fed5f039f429ed933931ba607b7efda7d1a343d79cfab60910e184314701212.12%
- 2d88ab60714d7caa53b06653cdd31e14093121cebf3bb7eb7ca0f1b9f04a3a8a7.1%
- 7e067b7da5da60458b5f7d5a99bc7c7c1f41999cd2559985f09267b1ec2e56ec4.57%
- 2d0ba4fd142dd53f0cd1efbd3f09f2514df8f541ed4df27fdbc25073a8f3240e2.25%
- 0485b01bf15802441fe1671cae60cdf82697b121b8eb21c2d5205ce6aae7ffbe2.17%
- b0a28a836bacd2a8f159935cd83c572ff78a6d381f7147692bf2562cc5f0023b0.04%
- 4a49eae1322e65ffa6c71f0bea52caec97d1f30de71fb068cd9fd8318c8287ab0.04%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- services.exe99.85%
- csrss.exe0.05%
- net.exe0.03%
- bomgar-scc.exe0.01%
- cmd.exe0.01%
- powershell.exe0.01%
- userinit.exe0.01%
Top Parents
- svchost.exe97.81%
- conhost.exe0.06%
- bomgar-scc.exe0.01%
- 7zG.exe<0.01%
- dxgiadaptercache.exe<0.01%
- explorer.exe<0.01%
- wermgr.exe<0.01%
Top Children
- WerFault.exe100%
Rare or environment-specific process names are omitted from ancestry tables. Percentages are of all observed relationships.
Security Analysis
What does ctfmon.exe normally do?
Runs from %SystemRoot%\System32\ctfmon.exe. One instance per logged-in user session. Starts automatically with user logon.
When is ctfmon.exe suspicious?
Running from non-System32 path. Multiple instances in a single session. Making network connections.
How do attackers abuse ctfmon.exe?
Malware may masquerade as ctfmon.exe. The real ctfmon.exe should not make outbound network connections.
Detection guidance
Verify path is System32. Alert on network connections from ctfmon.exe.
False positive notes
Always present in interactive sessions. Normal to see one per user.
MITRE ATT&CK techniques
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Data from EchoTrail's dataset of ~346M Windows process executions. Last extracted 2026-08-04.