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Understanding SQUIRREL: COM.SQUIRREL.TEAMS Explained

Understanding COM SQUIRREL in Slack and Teams

Today, we took a moment to tidy up one of our corporate client’s personal laptops as a small, complimentary gesture for clients we enjoy working with. While I was doing this, she noted the presence of several COM.SQUIRREL entries in her registry:

Understanding COM SQUIRREL in Slack and Teams

Computer\ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run
com.squirrel.slack.slack
com.squirrel.Teams.Teams

While these entries may raise some concerns, we assured her that they are quite normal. Here’s an explanation.

What is SQUIRREL or COM.SQUIRREL?

The entries in question come from the Squirrel framework. This open-source tool is designed to manage installations and updates for Windows desktop applications seamlessly. It enables silent updates in the background, often without requiring administrative rights.

Squirrel Lifecycle Timeline

  • Initiation: The Squirrel.Windows framework was launched in September 2014 by developer Paul Betts.
  • Rise in Popularity: Its usage surged during the mid-to-late 2010s, thanks to its adoption by major Electron-based apps like Slack, Discord, and GitHub Desktop. It emerged as a more efficient alternative to outdated deployment methods like Microsoft’s ClickOnce.
  • What Happened to Squirrel? In April 2019, the original creator of the GitHub repository announced that they could no longer support the project. As a result, no one from GitHub took over, but this led to new forks, such as Clowd.Squirrel and Velopack. These forks introduced bug fixes and new features, including support for .NET 8, along with an easy migration path for developers who wish to maintain the Squirrel philosophy.

Key Details about Squirrel

Evaluating the legitimacy of Squirrel registry entries

  • Functionality: The Squirrel framework allows applications to install and update themselves automatically in the background, requiring minimal administrative privileges. This is possible because the core application files are stored in the user’s local AppData directory, which permits user-level write access.
  • Registry Entries: The entries com.squirrel.slack.slack and com.squirrel.teams.teams are commonly found in the Windows Registry under HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. This setup ensures that the applications launch automatically upon user login.
  • Executable Links: These registry entries reference the main executable of the applications (e.g., slack.exe or update.exe for MS Teams), passing necessary arguments to control how the application starts during bootup.
  • Legitimacy: The registry entries and processes associated with them are authentic parts of the respective software and are not inherently toxic.
  • Management Options: Users and system administrators often monitor these specific keys to manage the automatic startup of applications, especially in corporate environments where centralised control is essential.

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