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OT: Malwarebytes Craziness

ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
edited January 2018 in The Commons
For those of you with Malwarebytes: you may suddenly see your computer run slow and something gobbles up your entire RAM and blocks your internet just like a virus. Fear not, its a Malwarebytes error that apparently has been fixed, and just requires a reboot and install the latest version. It hit all my computers and had me freaking. I havent rebooted yet, so not sure it works. More info on Malwarebytes website
Post edited by ebergerly on
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  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    edited January 2018

    Update: Apparently this was a huge deal. Anyway, what I did is reboot my computer, go into Task Manager and manually stop the "malwarebytes service" process and all was well. You may also then have to re-start Malwarebytes, and under Settings, check for updates. 

    Post edited by ebergerly on
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited January 2018

    Thanks for that inof.   I was tearing my hair out earlier,  accusing the cats of hexing my PC,  all sorts of things. 

    Cats of course were terribly worried (not)  

    And lol one cat is now watching the animated cat emojie, I think she approves.

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    edited January 2018

    It was really strange. Over a minute or two my entire 64 GB memory got steadily eaten up, and my hard drive stayed at 100% utilization, and of course everything was slow as molasses. So frantically I pulled my internet plug and started running Malwarebytes and Defender, but they found nothing. Apparently they issued a fix a few hours ago. 

    Post edited by ebergerly on
  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,282
    edited January 2018

    Yes, just noticed it a couple of hours ago.

    Another MB problem that recently appeared on my Win 10 is error messages saying that Web Protection is turned off. If I try to turn it on it just switches back to Off again. No problems with same version in Win 8.1.

     

     

     

     

    Post edited by Taoz on
  • TomDowdTomDowd Posts: 200

    Huh. Apparently I updated past the problem. Luck me! laugh

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    Taoz said:

    Yes, just noticed it a couple of hours ago.

    Another MB problem that recently appeared on my Win 10 is error messages saying that Web Protection is turned off. If I try to turn it on it just switches back to Off again. No problems with same version in Win 8.1.

    That "web protection turned off" is the Malwarebytes error. Once you update and reboot it goes back to normal

     

     

     

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    ebergerly said:
    Taoz said:

    Yes, just noticed it a couple of hours ago.

    Another MB problem that recently appeared on my Win 10 is error messages saying that Web Protection is turned off. If I try to turn it on it just switches back to Off again. No problems with same version in Win 8.1.

    That "web protection turned off" is the Malwarebytes error. Once you update and reboot it goes back to normal

     

     

     

    Mine was on Win 7,  so it was quite widespread.

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    edited January 2018

    Here's the thread from the Malwarebytes forum:

    https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/219996-important-web-blocking-ram-usage-issue/

    Like they say, you may have to reboot a few times for it to get fixed. One of my computers took 3 reboots, the other just one. 

    Here's their list of things to do:

    • Update package version 1.0.3803 or higher contains the fix
    • To resolve, simply reboot your machine. In some cases, a second or even third reboot may be needed.
    • To verify you have this update, go to Settings ->  About -> Update package version: 1.0.3803

    Here's their explanation:

    Earlier this morning, we published a protection update that caused connection issues for many of our customers. As a side effect of the web protection blocks, the product also spiked memory usage and possibly caused a crash. We have triaged this issue and pushed a protection update that resolves it.

    If the update does not resolve the issue automatically for you, please shut down web protection, check for protection updates, and restart your computer.

    The root cause of the issue was a malformed protection update that the client couldn't process correctly. We have pushed upwards of 20,000 of these protection updates routinely. We test every single one before it goes out. We pride ourselves on the safety and accuracy of our detection engines. To say I am heartbroken is an understatement.

    We are working hard to not only triage your issues and get your computer or business back up and running but to also rebuild your trust. We are going to overhaul how we publish these protection updates so that this never happens again.

    I am personally available to discuss both on this forum via personal message or at [email protected]

     

    Post edited by ebergerly on
  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255

    This is not good. A lot of business users had crashes and are furious. A world class screw-up. I imagine some folks at Malwarebytes are cleaning out their desks right now. 

    BTW, apparently they issued a more recent update, because mine show 1.0.3804, not 3803. 

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,282
    edited January 2018
    ebergerly said:
    Taoz said:

    Yes, just noticed it a couple of hours ago.

    Another MB problem that recently appeared on my Win 10 is error messages saying that Web Protection is turned off. If I try to turn it on it just switches back to Off again. No problems with same version in Win 8.1.

    That "web protection turned off" is the Malwarebytes error. Once you update and reboot it goes back to normal

    Well I haven't had any RAM problems on the Win 10 machine (just checked, MB is currently using 7.3 MB), only the Web Protection problem. And haven't had the Web Protection problem on the Win 8.1 machine, only the RAM problem. So it looks to me like two separate problems.

    Or maybe the RAM problem is caused by Web Protection turned on? In that case I still wonder why it's turning itself off in Win 10, but not in Win 8.

     

    Post edited by Taoz on
  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    Taoz said:

     

    Well I haven't had any RAM problems on the Win 10 machine (just checked, MB is currently using 7.3 MB), only the Web Protection problem. And haven't had the Web Protection problem on the Win 8.1 machine, only the RAM problem. So it looks to me like two separate problems.

    Or maybe the RAM problem is caused by Web Protection turned on? In that case I still wonder why it's turning itself off in Win 10, but not in Win 8.

    In the explanation from the Malwarebytes guys that I posted above, they say: "...we published a protection update that caused connection issues for many of our customers. As a side effect of the web protection blocks, the product also spiked memory usage and possibly caused a crash."

    Other than that, in the words of Butch Cassidy, "I can't help you, Sundance" smiley 

     

     

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,282
    edited January 2018
    ebergerly said:

    Here's the thread from the Malwarebytes forum:

    https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/219996-important-web-blocking-ram-usage-issue/

    Like they say, you may have to reboot a few times for it to get fixed. One of my computers took 3 reboots, the other just one. 

    Here's their list of things to do:

    • Update package version 1.0.3803 or higher contains the fix

    I'm on 1.0.3804 on both machines, and haven't rebooted any of them for a couple of days. I killed MB Service on Win 8 when I discovered the RAM issue (used over 4 GB), maybe that's enough to make it update? It seems to have restarted by itself. 

    I still have the Web Protection turn off problem in Win 10 though. Started a couple of weeks ago. Checked their forum but no mention of it there. Rarely use that machine for browsing though, and have Avast Web Protecion also, so no big issue, just annoying with that popup.

     

     

     

     

    Post edited by Taoz on
  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    edited January 2018

    Wow, and I spent all flipping afternoon working on this. What I did in the end was uninstall Malwarebytes with Revo Uninstaller and then downloaded it off the website, and then reinstalled. That seemed to fix it. It's been behaving ever since ;) I was having a problem with the web protection staying on as well, but reinstalling it fixed that also. I am on Windows 8.1 btw.

    Laurie

    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • FWIWFWIW Posts: 320

    Thank you so much for this post I freaked the hell out. I took the damn laptop apart and was 100% sure it was finally going the way of the dodo.

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    ebergerly said:

    This is not good. A lot of business users had crashes and are furious. A world class screw-up. I imagine some folks at Malwarebytes are cleaning out their desks right now. 

    BTW, apparently they issued a more recent update, because mine show 1.0.3804, not 3803. 

    In all fairness, this is the first time something like this has happened in all the years I've been using the software. So long as they were on top of it so fast, I'm not really worried ;)

    Laurie

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    AllenArt said:

    In all fairness, this is the first time something like this has happened in all the years I've been using the software. So long as they were on top of it so fast, I'm not really worried ;)

    Laurie

    Just imagine the businesses who, on a Saturday afternoon when all the IT people are at home, suddenly have their servers crash or have their phones ringing off the hook because customers whom they sold a computer to are having crashes. We're talking many millions of users around the world. This is big. And what's worse is that customers feel they can no longer trust a company who did that to them. 

     

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    edited January 2018

    Oh, I don't doubt it's not going to go well for the folks at Malwarebytes, but as for me, I'll keep using it. It's still the best AV going :). Others may not be so forgiving...lol.

    Laurie

    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255

     Wow, an IT guy posted that they have 4,000 affected computers deployed, and apparently the ...03 version doesn't check for the update, so the problem doesn't get fixed. So they had to go thru some hoops to get all their units updated. Maybe that's why the latest is now ...04.

    It will be interesting when everyone gets back to the office on Monday. Heck, with the Meltdown/Spectre issue everyone went crazy for something that MIGHT POSSIBLY have an unknown effect months or years in the future. Maybe. But this actually caused havoc TODAY with millions of computers.    

  • Charlie JudgeCharlie Judge Posts: 13,318
    edited January 2018

    Was the freeware version affected? I have a freeware version which hasn't been updated in awhile and seems to run fine. But now I am very hesitant to allow it to update.

    Post edited by Charlie Judge on
  • jag11jag11 Posts: 885

    I was fixed 20 minutes ago.

    Here is what you have to do

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,282

    OK, rebooted Win 10 and still had the Web Protection turn-off issue. And MB version was 1.0.3804.

    Then tried to uninstall (deactivated first), and reinstalled latest version from their site (1.0.3803, which updated itself to 3804). That seems to have fixed the Web Protection turn-off issue.

  • TomDowdTomDowd Posts: 200

    I had the web protection "off" problem a few weeks ago and a full uninstall reinstall resolved it.

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 6,076
    edited January 2018
    Chohole said:
    ebergerly said:
    Taoz said:

    Yes, just noticed it a couple of hours ago.

    Another MB problem that recently appeared on my Win 10 is error messages saying that Web Protection is turned off. If I try to turn it on it just switches back to Off again. No problems with same version in Win 8.1.

    That "web protection turned off" is the Malwarebytes error. Once you update and reboot it goes back to normal

     

     

     

    Mine was on Win 7,  so it was quite widespread.

    Ditto, and Win 8.1.  No luck fixing it with the 8,1 laptop, but with the Win 7 desktop the RAM-grab finished after I killed the process and manged to persuade it to put the web protection back on

     

    <later> The Win 7 desktop is on the latest update and seems fine, I'll check the laptop later

    Post edited by SimonJM on
  • RuphussRuphuss Posts: 2,631
    edited January 2018

    same here

    first i thought malwarebytes was hijacked

    deleted it and new install fixed it

    now i get an email invite to update my account

    is this legit ?

     

    Post edited by Ruphuss on
  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 6,076

    The Win8.1 laptop is now on 1.0.3806 after it did a chekc for update prior to a scan - didn't even give me a chance to manually check for an update after I started the service!!!  It's slowly consuming memory, but hay be the scan it's doing (thought as it's up to 5GB I doubt it) so the reboot that is mentioned may be needed.

  • 3Ddreamer3Ddreamer Posts: 1,347

    Just had this hit my W7 Desktop now - I spent ages trying to figure out what was going wrong with my W10 laptop last night - after 3 memory crashes it seemed to settle down. It wasn't till I saw it happening on this computer I started to wonder if it wasn't just that laptop. Current version is 1.0.3806

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 6,076

    The reboot did, indeed, fix the issue with the 8.1 laptop, so all is good!

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255

    Rule #1 with computer problems: 

    When in doubt, reboot early and often smiley

    Even the MB folks said, like I posted above, you may need multiple reboots for it to take effect. 

  • SimonJMSimonJM Posts: 6,076
    ebergerly said:

    Rule #1 with computer problems: 

    When in doubt, reboot early and often smiley

    Even the MB folks said, like I posted above, you may need multiple reboots for it to take effect. 

    I know, worked for 30+ years in IT, most in tech support.  And still hate the idea that a reboot can fix some things!  Mind you, didn't often reboot the mainframe ....! cheeky

  • ebergerlyebergerly Posts: 3,255
    SimonJM said:

    I know, worked for 30+ years in IT, most in tech support. 

    Cool. So am I going overboard thinking that a bunch of IT folks are gonna get fired this week for allowing the Malwarebytes fiasco to cause havoc on their business systems? 

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