verclsid.exe
Summary
COM Object Verification utility. Verifies and validates COM class IDs. Can be abused to execute code by registering malicious COM objects and invoking their verification.
verclsid.exe is the 1551st most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 632 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by RuntimeBroker.exe.
Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System3299.53%
- C:\Windows\SysWOW640.47%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 3ee33c6afffccb94dc642943ec071cd062bf0b4f5cc5474c4250149e08e06bd334.06%
- 69da38c640682d46377fe8a6cb304da97893ab8d4989e5fa54edfd397a50c00b16.44%
- ac6e1f614cb902c0abe4297646e21c70590624b652a080bfbb8407b1ab52609d14.6%
- bd061706d94afd7a809f0ea613a236c9ecae8488c39446d0843284ae4a2c602712.42%
- 8614efbf351984bb416f5ce7825d1aeedfa368110c551810fbe33941b6ec9b4610.07%
- 18c4e76431643aaf2113a5c4556cbe1d79cbc8113e4b0904a6205d73a89260455.54%
- 4dfee721ff49f16696ce2c9a4ba066c4c7acafd8d3ce7609e417b0a0cfeaa72e2.01%
- c70e4ded6a371904dff62cc9ef4bd3c723c41dd615083da811940386d08d55381.68%
- 9c95ef6902dcd9b9c825a44142d3e7e6af3f265fc76da38726dee98b0c7e11271.17%
- cc6a47869fdba5ec67a20e0714b9b3162881462e36457c08b1b13b84683889e00.67%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- svchost.exe94.22%
- userinit.exe4.52%
- FCHelper64.exe0.75%
- explorer.exe0.5%
Top Parents
- RuntimeBroker.exe76.9%
- SettingSyncHost.exe13.61%
- explorer.exe5.54%
- sihost.exe3.01%
- FortiTray.exe0.47%
- chrome.exe0.16%
- pwsafe.exe0.16%
- VISIO.EXE0.16%
Rare or environment-specific process names are omitted from ancestry tables. Percentages are of all observed relationships.
Security Analysis
What does verclsid.exe normally do?
Runs from C:\Windows\System32. Called by Explorer to verify COM objects before loading them (e.g., shell extensions, thumbnail providers). Short-lived verification process.
When is verclsid.exe suspicious?
verclsid.exe loading unusual DLLs. Spawning child processes. Network connections. Invoked with CLSID parameters pointing to non-standard COM objects.
How do attackers abuse verclsid.exe?
PROXY EXECUTION: Attackers register a malicious COM object (DLL) and use verclsid.exe to load and execute it. verclsid.exe is a signed Microsoft binary, so the DLL executes in a trusted process context. Can bypass application whitelisting that allows verclsid.exe but blocks direct DLL execution.
Detection guidance
MEDIUM-CONFIDENCE: - verclsid.exe loading DLLs from non-standard paths - verclsid.exe spawning child processes - verclsid.exe making network connections DATA SOURCES: Process creation (Sysmon 1), module load (Sysmon 7)
False positive notes
Normal Explorer activity — verclsid.exe is called frequently to validate shell extensions and COM objects. The key is unusual DLL paths or child process creation.
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.