setup.exe

PLUGIN UPDATE SL

This is the Softpulse installer which bundles applications with offers for additional 3rd party software, mostly unwanted adware, and may be installed with minimal consent. The application setup.exe by PLUGIN UPDATE SL has been detected as adware by 1 anti-malware scanner with very strong indications that the file is a potential threat. The program is a setup application that uses the Softpulse SoftwareBundler installer. The file has been seen being downloaded from initiatedownload.com.
Publisher:
PLUGIN UPDATE SL  (signed and verified)

MD5:
64113d05a51f6be7b8200c7024fd57b2

SHA-1:
17f70ee693511ed7653c1c8324485bc6a1890899

SHA-256:
4f5f3445b0c2ba582344ed07a70ff99be951ccc5770e422867b5b340b9c4ad30

Scanner detections:
1 / 68

Status:
Adware

Note:
Our current pool of anti-malware engines have not currently detected this file, however based on our own detection heuristics we feel that this file is unwanted.

Description:
This is an installer which may bundle legitimate applications with offers for additional 3rd-party applications that may be unwanted by the user. While the installer contains an 'opt-out' feature this is not set be defult and is usually overlooked.

Analysis date:
4/18/2025 2:41:22 AM UTC  (today)

Scan engine
Detection
Engine version

Reason Heuristics
PUP.Softpulse.PLUGINUP.Bundler (M)
16.3.19.12

File size:
573 KB (586,784 bytes)

File type:
Executable application (Win32 EXE)

Bundler/Installer:
Softpulse SoftwareBundler

Common path:
C:\users\{user}\downloads\setup.exe

Digital Signature
Authority:
Symantec Corporation

Valid from:
4/12/2015 5:00:00 PM

Valid to:
7/12/2016 4:59:59 PM

Subject:
CN=PLUGIN UPDATE SL, O=PLUGIN UPDATE SL, L=Guia de Isora, S=Santa Cruz de Tenerife, C=ES

Issuer:
CN=Symantec Class 3 SHA256 Code Signing CA, OU=Symantec Trust Network, O=Symantec Corporation, C=US

Serial number:
6A96B10625A440E58FC64DBD383A43DA

File PE Metadata
Compilation timestamp:
8/5/2015 5:22:49 AM

OS version:
5.0

OS bitness:
Win32

Subsystem:
Windows GUI

Linker version:
9.0

CTPH (ssdeep):
12288:/wQvSTuCWAhHqYQPYUNj8GFI49aHzPd8EB4G8JddvBvGRx2T051TFdU:b8HHqYQPYW9FyTPdx2Ge/vQRx2TQbK

Entry address:
0x1000

Entry point:
B8, D4, 8F, 5E, 00, 50, 64, FF, 35, 00, 00, 00, 00, 64, 89, 25, 00, 00, 00, 00, 33, C0, 89, 08, 50, 45, 43, 6F, 6D, 70, 61, 63, 74, 32, 00, 50, 2F, 50, DC, 53, 2D, 32, 82, DB, 91, DA, D5, FE, 63, 52, 25, 22, 19, 8E, CD, CA, 09, 54, EC, 40, 54, E8, 6C, 9D, 0C, B4, 50, D8, C1, 40, 22, 08, BF, 39, 8A, 3E, 07, 7A, 92, A7, 86, 6C, A4, D9, FA, EF, 99, F5, FC, 0D, A9, 3C, DC, 7D, 5B, 1D, ED, 5E, F6, 50, F2, 48, FE, FE, 16, DA, E2, 02, 04, 11, 00, 52, 42, 0D, DB, C1, 72, EB, 27, 44, 10, 71, EE, DB, B7, 72, CF, 78...
 
[+]

Entropy:
7.9399

Packer / compiler:
PECompact v2

Code size:
1.3 MB (1,374,208 bytes)

The file setup.exe has been seen being distributed by the following URL.

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