mmc.exe
Summary
Microsoft Management Console - hosts administrative snap-ins for Windows management (Event Viewer, Disk Management, Group Policy Editor, etc.).
mmc.exe is the 717th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 4,953 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by explorer.exe.
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3299.45%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW640.55%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- de2dbc557fec030b9150902d2e2525374fc7063f469516e41d561321afce089b26.18%
- 0cd33cc6d292d52b8c6e530158185502e47ecef0c47d92ac7a097ef1bbced0bc8.81%
- e021d4b2f12d2836c279aeee9fe59cea300730519afa57f450ba7095b45a653f8.6%
- 683c0cb518b3fe31cffa7fcf79f5efc18d355c6d52734757758ed26ae59500377.4%
- 97faabad1d93225121e347462133bb768f3ad7d4b27ac8c232594cc205ca8d3b7.4%
- 03048f7a610ee24ca36007019c6d5d200a9e94172d7f7a46cf71d7e792163e8d4.39%
- b0ad764277fb78de24e0ef08e439a8e5690b11d91b8f772034d94315bf7b7e453.11%
- a82964cea41cfc27d745612e251494c70fef429becd4b83fe97e01741341658d3.01%
- 5dc0efc7cf971f9da9bd183f4bc5707176f7f829133b3ef90ffbb603516af9212.96%
- a08ec9d2f811726bdcd71f7c5b40cdb543d092c11811a45180e569fe3f62124d2.61%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- userinit.exe38.38%
- explorer.exe15.78%
- svchost.exe13.27%
- winlogon.exe0.55%
- WerFault.exe0.42%
- eventvwr.exe0.26%
- OneDrive.exe0.2%
- python.exe0.16%
Top Parents
- explorer.exe52.66%
- bomgar-scc.exe19.98%
- RuntimeBroker.exe9.79%
- control.exe4.6%
- ServerManager.exe2.08%
- eventvwr.exe1.57%
- sihost.exe1.55%
- rundll32.exe1.45%
- cmd.exe1.13%
- mmc.exe0.73%
Top Children
- DismHost.exe41.45%
- mmc.exe8.43%
- explorer.exe6.09%
- WerFault.exe2.81%
- chrome.exe2.11%
- msedge.exe0.94%
- perfmon.exe0.7%
- setup.exe0.7%
- vbc.exe0.7%
- dbInstaller.exe0.47%
Rare or environment-specific process names are omitted from ancestry tables. Percentages are of all observed relationships.
Security Analysis
What does mmc.exe normally do?
Loads .msc snap-in files for system administration. Common snap-ins: eventvwr.msc, diskmgmt.msc, gpedit.msc, services.msc.
When is mmc.exe suspicious?
Loading snap-ins from unusual paths. Loading non-standard .msc files. Running on workstations without admin tooling expected.
How do attackers abuse mmc.exe?
Attackers can craft malicious .msc files that execute arbitrary commands when opened in MMC. MMC can also be used to load COM objects for code execution. The GrimResource technique uses crafted .msc files for initial access.
Detection guidance
Monitor for mmc.exe loading .msc files from temp directories or user-writable paths. Alert on mmc.exe spawning unexpected child processes.
False positive notes
System administrators routinely use MMC snap-ins. RSAT tools rely heavily on MMC.
MITRE ATT&CK techniques
Related Processes
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Data from EchoTrail's dataset of ~346M Windows process executions. Last extracted 2026-08-04.