sfc.exe

File Path: C:\Windows\system32\sfc.exe
Description: System Integrity Check and Repair

Hashes

Type	Hash
MD5	`297A8E78FFE3829BA90F0EB6F1B0B500`
SHA1	`6A44318ECCE54F4B4FC2374D6B0C97BD9F1DCA2E`
SHA256	`E4006F0CB1EE909A8CD04B8A56899C459473406C3A9A3DA53B891E5AE8F7E609`
SHA384	`6CE8057AFB9F90E31B03282D6F74B95302C6073A079643C75A2FC30E5057A967AE7965197AE4E92A24CEBEF5CE58B179`
SHA512	`8EA20360C35781E1C7053E08EDF9A0389495B2A70D45D5582C1512D77DD64BF15B967AFF23DF22E7DB39580EACBB0CEF67C1C045AB4359CF1CCC03E5680C9E87`
SSDEEP	`768:faUwq2S0k1U4BrNDzdhKA1k535H2SCwz8EjVEFx7aNPRpnF+VmGXrxg:S7fqU4BJz11k53Bz89z7symoxg`

Runtime Data

Usage (stdout):

Microsoft (R) Windows (R) Resource Checker Version 6.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Scans the integrity of all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with 
correct Microsoft versions.

SFC [/SCANNOW] [/VERIFYONLY] [/SCANFILE=<file>] [/VERIFYFILE=<file>]
    [/OFFWINDIR=<offline windows directory> /OFFBOOTDIR=<offline boot directory>]

/SCANNOW        Scans integrity of all protected system files and repairs files with
                problems when possible.
/VERIFYONLY     Scans integrity of all protected system files. No repair operation is
                performed.
/SCANFILE       Scans integrity of the referenced file, repairs file if problems are
                identified. Specify full path <file>
/VERIFYFILE     Verifies the integrity of the file with full path <file>.  No repair
                operation is performed.
/OFFBOOTDIR     For offline repair specify the location of the offline boot directory
/OFFWINDIR      For offline repair specify the location of the offline windows directory

e.g.

        sfc /SCANNOW
        sfc /VERIFYFILE=c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
        sfc /SCANFILE=d:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll /OFFBOOTDIR=d:\ /OFFWINDIR=d:\windows
        sfc /VERIFYONLY

Signature

Status: Signature verified.
Serial: 33000000BCE120FDD27CC8EE930000000000BC
Thumbprint: E85459B23C232DB3CB94C7A56D47678F58E8E51E
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: sfc.exe.mui
Product Name: Microsoft Windows Operating System
Company Name: Microsoft Corporation
File Version: 10.0.14393.0 (rs1_release.160715-1616)
Product Version: 10.0.14393.0
Language: English (United States)
Legal Copyright: Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Possible Misuse

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

Source	Source File	Example	License
signature-base	apt_poisonivy.yar	$s4 = “\sfc.exe” fullword ascii /* score: ‘11.005’ */	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.

sfc

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

Scans and verifies the integrity of all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct versions. If this command discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the systemroot\system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.

[!IMPORTANT] You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to run this command.

Syntax

sfc [/scannow] [/verifyonly] [/scanfile=<file>] [/verifyfile=<file>] [/offwindir=<offline windows directory> /offbootdir=<offline boot directory>]

Parameters

Parameter	Description
/scannow	Scans the integrity of all protected system files and repairs files with problems when possible.
/verifyonly	Scans the integrity of all protected system files, without performing repairs.
/scanfile `<file>`	Scans the integrity of the specified file (full path and filename) and attempts to repair any problems if they’re detected.
/verifyfile `<file>`	Verifies the integrity of the specified file (full path and filename), without performing repairs.
/offwindir `<offline windows directory>`	Specifies the location of the offline windows directory, for offline repair.
/offbootdir `<offline boot directory>`	Specifies the location of the offline boot directory for offline repair.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Examples

To verify the kernel32.dll file, type:

sfc /verifyfile=c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll

To set up the offline repair of the kernel32.dll file with an offline boot directory set to D:* and an offline windows directory set to *D:\windows, type:

sfc /scanfile=D:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll /offbootdir=D:\ /offwindir=d:\windows

Additional References

Command-Line Syntax Key