qwinsta.exe

  • File Path: C:\windows\SysWOW64\qwinsta.exe
  • Description: Query Session Utility

Hashes

Type Hash
MD5 E1897B83712DC560D57BA19D8A410C08
SHA1 D897D50C10EE6B1BAA36AA46BD63157328A6F29D
SHA256 33E0694012804397159C9E4634DD749D497DE5A47C6DDC805510EDB2E7F222DC
SHA384 99E4265A4CF7F5197C8B8B6FE2FABD1762A46186E1107758D98E2AC9187B8FCEF338B1B4B95377ABDD42C55DE53C4117
SHA512 16DFC6173BDF48166CE197A38C79EE1C8D11A882409353D43287402A9EBA46438A739AFA81D65E8F6AC6C85D112E155C0B233E8330D4E00E947FE861971B86DA
SSDEEP 384:swmaU5mfH3l+imbguEAYx9wf3+xoxan5a0XIZvalid0vr+P7WI6Wd04m:CaU5UXlibgDAK1u9PfLm

Signature

  • Status: The file C:\windows\SysWOW64\qwinsta.exe is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system. For more information about running scripts and setting execution policy, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170
  • Serial: ``
  • Thumbprint: ``
  • Issuer:
  • Subject:

File Metadata

  • Original Filename: qwinsta.exe.mui
  • Product Name: Microsoft Windows Operating System
  • Company Name: Microsoft Corporation
  • File Version: 6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)
  • Product Version: 6.3.9600.16384
  • Language: English (United States)
  • Legal Copyright: Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Possible Misuse

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

Source Source File Example License
sigma apt_silence_downloader_v3.yml - '\qwinsta.exe' DRL 1.0
sigma proc_creation_win_local_system_owner_account_discovery.yml - '\qwinsta.exe' DRL 1.0
sigma proc_creation_win_multiple_suspicious_cli.yml - qwinsta.exe DRL 1.0
atomic-red-team T1033.md qwinsta.exe /server:#{computer_name} MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team T1033.md qwinsta.exe MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team T1033.md for /F “tokens=1,2” %i in (‘qwinsta /server:#{computer_name} ^| findstr “Active Disc”’) do @echo %i | find /v “#” | find /v “console” || echo %j > computers.txt MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary
atomic-red-team T1033.md @FOR /F %n in (computers.txt) DO @FOR /F “tokens=1,2” %i in (‘qwinsta /server:%n ^| findstr “Active Disc”’) do @echo %i | find /v “#” | find /v “console” || echo %j > usernames.txt MIT License. © 2018 Red Canary

Additional Info*

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


qwinsta

Applies to: Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

Displays information about sessions on a Remote Desktop Session Host server. The list includes information not only about active sessions but also about other sessions that the server runs.

[!NOTE] This command is the same as the query session command. To find out what’s new in the latest version, see What’s New in Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server.

Syntax

qwinsta [<sessionname> | <username> | <sessionID>] [/server:<servername>] [/mode] [/flow] [/connect] [/counter]

Parameters

Parameter Description
<sessionname> Specifies the name of the session that you want to query.
<username> Specifies the name of the user whose sessions you want to query.
<sessionID> Specifies the ID of the session that you want to query.
/server:<servername> Identifies the rd Session Host server to query. The default is the current server.
/mode Displays current line settings.
/flow Displays current flow-control settings.
/connect Displays current connect settings.
/counter Displays current counters information, including the total number of sessions created, disconnected, and reconnected.
/? Displays help at the command prompt.
Remarks
  • A user can always query the session to which the user is currently logged on. To query other sessions, the user must have special access permission.

  • If you don’t specify a session using the <username>, <sessionname>, or sessionID parameters, this query will display information about all active sessions in the system.

  • When qwinsta returns information, a greater than (>) symbol is displayed before the current session. For example:

      C:\>qwinsta
          SESSIONNAME     USERNAME        ID STATE    TYPE    DEVICE
          console         Administrator1  0 active    wdcon
          >rdp-tcp#1      User1           1 active    wdtshare
          rdp-tcp                         2 listen    wdtshare
                                          4 idle
                                          5 idle
    

    Where:

    • SESSIONNAME specifies the name assigned to the session.
    • USERNAME indicates the user name of the user connected to the session.
    • STATE provides information about the current state of the session.
    • TYPE indicates the session type.
    • DEVICE, which isn’t present for the console or network-connected sessions, is the device name assigned to the session.
    • Any sessions in which the initial state is configured as DISABLED won’t show up in the qwinsta list until they’re enabled.

Examples

To display information about all active sessions on server Server2, type:

qwinsta /server:Server2

To display information about active session modeM02, type:

qwinsta modeM02

Additional References


MIT License. Copyright (c) 2020-2021 Strontic.