Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Olaf Berli
Olaf BerliFlag for Norway

asked on

Malwarebytes reports exploit code when playing video in Windows Media Player

When playing some videos (.avi format) in Windows Media Player (version 12.0.7601.23517) I get an alarm from Malwarebytes about an exploit. It says something like: "Malwarebytes discovered and blocked an exploit. It is not a threat for the PC anymore. The videofile is a screen capture. During the screen capture there was two ads poppling up. They were closed during the capture. If the captured file is saved as mp4, there is no message from Malwarebytes - even if the ads popped up during capture.
Seems like the videos contains the exploits (the ads??).

Any tips about how to get rid of these exploits. Malware doesn't find anything when scanning the .avi files.... - only when Windows Media Player is playing them.

-Olaf-
Avatar of Paul Sauvé
Paul Sauvé
Flag of Canada image

the exploits do not come from the mp4 you created, they are due to the avi file you downloaded

if you recorded the pop-up ads in your mp4 file, then they are only an image of the ads, not the ads themselves

you therefore will get no warnings during playback of the mp4 file you created
Avatar of Olaf Berli

ASKER

Thanks for responding.
Not sure I understand, however....
I'm doing a screen capture of the entire video (using "Debut" from NCH software to capture the video shown in Firefox). This software may save the captured video in several video format. Have used .avi without any problems prevoulsy (but haven't seen any ads then). After the ads started to show, I'm getting the mentioned error. If I use .mp4 when saving the captured file, there is no error....

Suspecting something in Firefox that shows these ads....??
i don't think is is firefox that shows the ads the more likely suspect is the site where the video is downloaded from

you can try by using another browser (such as Google Chrome or MS Internet Explorer) to see if Malwarebytes Anti-Malware gives the same warnings
Yes, tried another browser, and it gave the same result. Will contact the site's owner and ask them.....   Actually, I guess the "problem" is solved.... Just start saving as mp4....?  But still wondering why this format isn't reported by Malwarebytes...
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Paul Sauvé
Paul Sauvé
Flag of Canada image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Once you've finished the capture do you still have the web page open, that could cause the background anti spam tools to scan the web page.
Show us the web page if you like.
I access NCH  web sites often and usually good
Do you have your Firefox up to date?
Go to the bars top right, then right down at the bottom next to customise> click on the question mark
Then About  Firefox
You should see Restart Firefox to update,
Keeping Firefox up to date helps illiminate this
Merete,
The warning pops up (from Malwarebytes) also when the web page is closed and when NCH isn't running (i.e. I just double-click on one of the .avi files with a captured video.
The web page(s) are at:
https://www.doyouyoga.com/lesson/yoga-to-relieve-back-pain/ 
(you may have to register to see the video..)
I've sent a question to the owners of this site about the issue.

-Olaf-
Thanks for the update Olaf
Hi again.
Got a response from the owner og the page mentioned previously. They are using a service at YouTube who is also inserting the ads (that seems to trigger the malware warning). They will move to another platform / service soon.
Thanks for all help!
-Olaf-
As mentioned in another comment, the problem is actually ads inserted by YouTube. This will be fixed / changed in the near future.
Thanks for good help and suggestions.