Cardlock.exe May 2026

If you find an unexpected copy of cardlock.exe (especially in %TEMP% or C:\Users\Public), take immediate action:

If the file is legitimate, its intended purpose is generally hardware management: cardlock.exe

Deploy Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) or AppLocker to allow only the signed cardlock.exe and its dependencies to execute. If you find an unexpected copy of cardlock

Check the file size: Legitimate version is usually 150KB–500KB. Malicious versions can be >2MB due to packed code.