cacls.exe

File Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cacls.exe
Description: Control ACLs Program

Hashes

Type	Hash
MD5	`D608F364341AF2E4A0E890878C43AD82`
SHA1	`4FC4AF846AB3B4178D65F9CF1B22AC76B33C3851`
SHA256	`279559BA82A45EA6071CB15EC776C32A8781E2C7DBF75F07849A952025A3F649`
SHA384	`BA994525676F5580F937EFA5B84F027ED26B0C3DE5B33A5497E613FBF99982FC2C9E8D04C4336A814C54D081F2110F86`
SHA512	`F95D8D5A0DC8A60A7A20B23141648E243AA0A9E9823DBE3CB93934991DDA0508D8B7CED78E056EACC423537C11B811048C2EE40D7CFFB3868D86236114FDD28D`
SSDEEP	`768:wHBozEH05bfPCax1AiBZDWRL4rNHj00OJAtn0gJPG3CwW:wHCEHQC4294Rj0pebJPGywW`
IMP	`30254A514CD61AB9D483307AA5A195E8`
PESHA1	`42BFEDF974958EA0F1DADDE9FAD799049D8F9C2A`
PE256	`93CF3736B327888E8DAA99D7FC7C49656F1B3DFE522A5DE5C1BEC04212EBA9E4`

Runtime Data

Usage (stdout):

 NOTE: Cacls is now deprecated, please use Icacls.

 Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files

 CACLS filename [/T] [/M] [/L] [/S[:SDDL]] [/E] [/C] [/G user:perm]
        [/R user [...]] [/P user:perm [...]] [/D user [...]]
    filename      Displays ACLs.
    /T            Changes ACLs of specified files in
                  the current directory and all subdirectories.
    /L            Work on the Symbolic Link itself versus the target
    /M            Changes ACLs of volumes mounted to a directory
    /S            Displays the SDDL string for the DACL.
    /S:SDDL       Replaces the ACLs with those specified in the SDDL string
                  (not valid with /E, /G, /R, /P, or /D).
    /E            Edit ACL instead of replacing it.
    /C            Continue on access denied errors.
    /G user:perm  Grant specified user access rights.
                  Perm can be: R  Read
                               W  Write
                               C  Change (write)
                               F  Full control
    /R user       Revoke specified user's access rights (only valid with /E).
    /P user:perm  Replace specified user's access rights.
                  Perm can be: N  None
                               R  Read
                               W  Write
                               C  Change (write)
                               F  Full control
    /D user       Deny specified user access.
 Wildcards can be used to specify more than one file in a command.
 You can specify more than one user in a command.

 Abbreviations:
    CI - Container Inherit.
         The ACE will be inherited by directories.
    OI - Object Inherit.
         The ACE will be inherited by files.
    IO - Inherit Only.
         The ACE does not apply to the current file/directory.
    ID - Inherited.
         The ACE was inherited from the parent directory's ACL.

Usage (stderr):

The system cannot find the file specified.

Loaded Modules:

Path
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cacls.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll

Signature

Status: Signature verified.
Serial: 33000002ED2C45E4C145CF48440000000002ED
Thumbprint: 312860D2047EB81F8F58C29FF19ECDB4C634CF6A
Issuer: CN=Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US
Subject: CN=Microsoft Windows, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US

File Metadata

Original Filename: CACLS.EXE.MUI
Product Name: Microsoft Windows Operating System
Company Name: Microsoft Corporation
File Version: 10.0.22000.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800)
Product Version: 10.0.22000.1
Language: English (United States)
Legal Copyright: Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Machine Type: 64-bit

File Scan

VirusTotal Detections: 0/73
VirusTotal Link: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/279559ba82a45ea6071cb15ec776c32a8781e2c7dbf75f07849a952025a3f649/detection

Possible Misuse

The following table contains possible examples of cacls.exe being misused. While cacls.exe is not inherently malicious, its legitimate functionality can be abused for malicious purposes.

Source	Source File	Example	License
sigma	proc_creation_win_file_permission_modifications.yml	`- '\cacls.exe'`	DRL 1.0
sigma	proc_creation_win_hiding_malware_in_fonts_folder.yml	`CommandLine\\|re: '(?i).(echo\\|copy\\|type\\|file createnew\\|cacls).C:\\\\Windows\\\\Fonts\\\\.(.sh\\|.exe\\|.dll\\|.bin\\|.bat\\|.cmd\\|.js\\|.msh\\|.reg\\|.scr\\|.ps\\|.vb\\|.jar\\|.pl\\|.inf\\|.cpl\\|.hta\\|.msi\\|.vbs).'`	DRL 1.0
atomic-red-team	index.md	- Atomic Test #2: cacls - Grant permission to specified user or group recursively [windows]	MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team	windows-index.md	- Atomic Test #2: cacls - Grant permission to specified user or group recursively [windows]	MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team	T1222.001.md	Adversaries can interact with the DACLs using built-in Windows commands, such as `icacls`, `cacls`, `takeown`, and `attrib`, which can grant adversaries higher permissions on specific files and folders. Further, PowerShell provides cmdlets that can be used to retrieve or modify file and directory DACLs. Specific file and directory modifications may be a required step for many techniques, such as establishing Persistence via Accessibility Features, Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts, or tainting/hijacking other instrumental binary/configuration files via Hijack Execution Flow.</blockquote>	MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team	T1222.001.md	- Atomic Test #2 - cacls - Grant permission to specified user or group recursively	MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team	T1222.001.md	## Atomic Test #2 - cacls - Grant permission to specified user or group recursively	MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
signature-base	cn_pentestset_tools.yar	$s1 = “cacls %s /t /c /e /r administrators” fullword ascii /* PEStudio Blacklist: strings */	CC BY-NC 4.0

Additional Info*

*The information below is copied from MicrosoftDocs, which is maintained by Microsoft. Available under CC BY 4.0 license.

cacls

[!IMPORTANT] This command has been deprecated. Please use icacls instead.

Displays or modifies discretionary access control lists (DACL) on specified files.

Syntax

cacls <filename> [/t] [/m] [/l] [/s[:sddl]] [/e] [/c] [/g user:<perm>] [/r user [...]] [/p user:<perm> [...]] [/d user [...]]

Parameters

Parameter	Description
`<filename>`	Required. Displays ACLs of specified files.
/t	Changes ACLs of specified files in the current directory and all subdirectories.
/m	Changes ACLs of volumes mounted to a directory.
/l	Works on the Symbolic Link itself instead of the target.
/s:sddl	Replaces the ACLs with those specified in the SDDL string. This parameter is not valid for use with the /e, /g, /r, /p, or /d parameters.
/e	Edit an ACL instead of replacing it.
/c	Continue after access denied errors.
`/g user:<perm>`	Grants specified user access rights, including these valid values for permission:<ul><li>n - None</li><li>r - Read</li><li>w - Write</li><li>c - Change (write)</li><li>f - Full control</li></ul>
/r user […]	Revoke specified user’s access rights. Only valid when used with the /e parameter.
`[/p user:<perm> [...]`	Replace specified user’s access rights, including these valid values for permission:<ul><li>n - None</li><li>r - Read</li><li>w - Write</li><li>c - Change (write)</li><li>f - Full control</li></ul>
[/d user […]	Deny specified user access.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Sample output

Output	Access control entry (ACE) applies to
OI	Object inherit. This folder and files.
CI	Container inherit. This folder and subfolders.
IO	Inherit only. The ACE does not apply to the current file/directory.
No output message	This folder only.
(OI)(CI)	This folder, subfolders, and files.
(OI)(CI)(IO)	Subfolders and files only.
(CI)(IO)	Subfolders only.
(OI)(IO)	Files only.

Remarks

You can use wildcards (? and *) to specify multiple files.
You can specify more than one user.