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Chinese Hacktool Set - file pw-inspector.exe

yara LOW Yara-Rules
community
This rule was pulled from an open-source repository and enriched with AI. Validate in a test environment before deploying to production.
View original rule at Yara-Rules →
Retrieved: 2026-07-15T23:00:00Z · Confidence: medium

Hunt Hypothesis

This hunt targets adversaries executing pw-inspector.exe, a known Chinese hacktool often used for credential harvesting and system reconnaissance during early-stage intrusions. Proactively searching for this artifact in Azure Sentinel is critical to identify potential supply chain compromises or targeted espionage activities that may evade standard signature-based detections due to the tool’s legitimate appearance.

YARA Rule

rule pw_inspector {
	meta:
		description = "Chinese Hacktool Set - file pw-inspector.exe"
		author = "Florian Roth"
		reference = "http://tools.zjqhr.com/"
		date = "2015-06-13"
		hash = "4f8e3e101098fc3da65ed06117b3cb73c0a66215"
	strings:
		$s1 = "-m MINLEN  minimum length of a valid password" fullword ascii
		$s2 = "http://www.thc.org" fullword ascii
		$s3 = "Use for hacking: trim your dictionary file to the pw requirements of the target." fullword ascii
	condition:
		uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and filesize < 460KB and all of them
}

Deployment Notes

This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:

This rule contains 3 string patterns in its detection logic.

References

False Positive Guidance

Here are 4 specific false positive scenarios for the detection rule Chinese Hacktool Set - file pw-inspreter.exe, along with suggested filters or exclusions:

Original source: https://github.com/Yara-Rules/rules/blob/main/malware/TOOLKIT_Chinese_Hacktools.yar