PSA: If you're experiencing high resource usage, update Malwarebytes

[Danielx64]

Anti-malware software Malwarebytes, known more commonly as MBAM, has proven useful in the removal of rather difficult types of viruses which test the patience of a user. That said, the aforementioned patience has unfortunately been now tested by the application itself.

On Saturday, information emerged in the company's own forums of high resource usage when MBAM was on, seemingly related to a recent database update and subsequent turning off of Real-Time Protection and Web-Protection.

Read more: PSA: If you're experiencing high resource usage, update Malwarebytes

 

[ForgottenSeer 58943]

The problem is, some people are reporting they can't even update MBAM because it takes all system resources until the system becomes unusable.

Malwarebytes Update Released to Fix High CPU & Memory Usage in Mbamservice.exe

An update pushed by Malwarebytes today for their Malwarebytes Anti-Malware product has caused a lot of problems for those who use their program. This new protection update caused mbamservice.exe to consume a lot of memory and upwards to 90% of the computer's CPU. A new update has been pushed that resolves these issues.

First reported in the Malwarebytes forums, numerous people have been complaining today about mbamservice.exe consuming large amount of memory and spiking the CPU at over 90% usage. This has caused some computers to crash or become too unstable to use.

In a post to their forums, Malwarebytes CEO Marcin Kleczynski explained that a bad protection update caused these problems and that a new update had just been released that fixes these problems.

 

[ForgottenSeer 58943]

Man, I just posted this 10 minutes after you.

Anyway, I don't use MBAM, but some people report they can't even update it because it takes all of the system resources. They had to uninstall it in safe mode, then reinstall it.

 

[Danielx64]

Anyway, I don't use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, but some people report they can't even update it because it takes all of the system resources. They had to uninstall it in safe mode, then reinstall it.

In general I think that QA have dropped alot in the past year. Yes there have been QA issues going on for years but I think it just getting worse and worse.

 

[Faybert]

After becoming a complete antivirus, they totally lost the way.

 

[Deletedmessiah]

After becoming a complete antivirus, they totally lost the way.

They should've stayed as companion software. It was so great. Powerful, light and effective.

 

[Faybert]

They should've stayed as companion software. It was so great. Powerful, light and effective.

I agree

 

[Deleted Member 3a5v73x]

At first I thought update servers were hyjacked and some sort of cryptominer was pushed in new update. But since it was high RAM usage, it wasn't the case. Thankfully, Malwarebytes team sorted it out with newest updates, but I guess this could have happened with any programm on your pc after it's update. I wonder how companies who were affected by Malwarebytes will look at it now, for me it would be a sign to look elsewhere..

 

[dinosaur07]

I`m thinking to downgrade it to version 2 or even to version 1.75 if i still receive definition updates as i have a lifetime license for it. This is one great advantage of a lifetime license, one is not tied to any specific version so it can move onwards or backwards.

 

[AlanOstaszewski]

Mb has become a placebo. Who's using it nowadays?
I can't understand the people who have to use something because they got it for free. @dinosaur07

 

[TairikuOkami]

They should've stayed as companion software. It was so great. Powerful, light and effective.

WAS is the important part. These days, it is PUP detector, just like SAS became cookies detector. They went greedy and paid for it many times, it went down the drain since version 3 was released and this incident will only hurt their business even more. I gave them 2-3 years back then, I guess I am not far from the truth.

 

[Deleted member 65228]

Malwarebytes have done a lot of good, therefore I don't think it is fair to penalise them over this one incident. Despite the memory leak bug, the software could still be uninstalled and reinstalled in safe mode and thus PCs are not left "bricked" - Malwarebytes worked hard to resolve the issue ASAP. Everyone makes mistakes, we are only human.

They will learn from the mistake and handle update testing more effectively before pushing them out to prevent an incident like this happening again. Malwarebytes still offer a free on-demand scanner so they don't just care about money, they handle vulnerability reports with care, they do an awful lot of malware research and make public analysis articles (by some really talented people - check out their blog to find out), and they do care about their customers.

They diagnosed and resolved the issue around the clock and as soon as they could, just hours after the reports of the problem. To me this actually shows willingness, and they didn't feed an excuse, they acknowledged publicly why the bug was present and took responsibility for their actions... Which is trustworthy in my eyes.

Here are the facts.
1. Microsoft left systems unbootable only just a few weeks ago - then blamed AMD documentation instead of taking responsibility for not properly testing the patch updates
2. Panda Security have left systems unbootable before
3. McAfee have left systems unbootable before
4. Webroot have left systems unbootable before
5. Avira have left systems unbootable/unusable before

Microsoft's chip security fix is turning some PCs into bricks
Panda antivirus mistakenly flags itself as malware, bricks PCs | ZDNet
Whoops: Antivirus software Webroot bricks PCs by deleting Windows system files - Liliputing
McAfee false positive bricks enterprise PCs worldwide
Avira antivirus upgrade wreaks 'catastrophic' havoc on Windows PCs

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

If you're using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and you are not going to use it anymore due to what happened, then just remember that this could happen with any other product.

 

[Deletedmessiah]

I`m thinking to downgrade it to version 2 or even to version 1.75 if i still receive definition updates as i have a lifetime license for it. This is one great advantage of a lifetime license, one is not tied to any specific version so it can move onwards or backwards.

I have a lifetime license too. But unfortunately it doesn't work in 1.75 version for me. How do you make it work in older version? I got lifetime license during version 2.x.

 

[Deletedmessiah]

Malwarebytes have done a lot of good, therefore I don't think it is fair to penalise them over this one incident. Despite the memory leak bug, the software could still be uninstalled and reinstalled in safe mode and thus PCs are not left "bricked" - Malwarebytes worked hard to resolve the issue ASAP. Everyone makes mistakes, we are only human.

They will learn from the mistake and handle update testing more effectively before pushing them out to prevent an incident like this happening again. Malwarebytes still offer a free on-demand scanner so they don't just care about money, they handle vulnerability reports with care, they do an awful lot of malware research and make public analysis articles (by some really talented people - check out their blog to find out), and they do care about their customers.

They diagnosed and resolved the issue around the clock and as soon as they could, just hours after the reports of the problem. To me this actually shows willingness, and they didn't feed an excuse, they acknowledged publicly why the bug was present and took responsibility for their actions... Which is trustworthy in my eyes.

Here are the facts.
1. Microsoft left systems unbootable only just a few weeks ago - then blamed AMD documentation instead of taking responsibility for not properly testing the patch updates
2. Panda Security have left systems unbootable before
3. McAfee have left systems unbootable before
4. Webroot have left systems unbootable before
5. Avira have left systems unbootable/unusable before

Microsoft's chip security fix is turning some PCs into bricks
Panda antivirus mistakenly flags itself as malware, bricks PCs | ZDNet
Whoops: Antivirus software Webroot bricks PCs by deleting Windows system files - Liliputing
McAfee false positive bricks enterprise PCs worldwide
Avira antivirus upgrade wreaks 'catastrophic' havoc on Windows PCs

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

If you're using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and you are not going to use it anymore due to what happened, then just remember that this could happen with any other product.

I really hope it goes like you said and the product becomes lighter and faster and provide better protection again.

 

[Vasudev]

I never updated to MBAM 3.x and still using 2.x

 

[Lightning_Brian]

Golly, this was a bad update. The update shot my CPU usage upwards to 60%, RAM usage jumped right around 98-99%, HDD usage jumped significantly higher too.

I will have to find a solution for myself, because like many others I cannot seem to get it to update to the latest definition. More than likely I’ll have to uninstall and reinstall hoping no license issues in the process. Those of you who have lifetime licenses please remember to deactivate those licenses and then use the Malwarebytes clean uninstall tool otherwise you’ll have to wait for Malwarebytes to reset your license which could be some loss in protection. Luckily, this isn’t my primary line of defense for my computer like some. Hopefully, this never happens again!

Part of me is thinking about moving down to 2.x.x or the original version that still gets database updates... Been thinking about this long and hard...

 

[codswollip]

As wide-spread as this botched update was, it is apparent that MBAM does not conduct pre-release testing, but instead relies on its customer base to do this.

The solution for those still dealing with this debacle is to uninstall from safe mode, reboot and never, ever, reinstall this failed mess of shoddy programming. As for me, my lifetime license is idle. Live and learn.