Vital detected as a trojan on windows

Vital is safe its just a new app and new apps need to be recognized by windows, I have vital and i can tell ya its safe, Turn off windows security before installing then turn it back on

Indeed, I temporarily turned off Windows Defender and although it still objected to the install file, it did accept to store it on my PC. I then ran the installer before deleting the install file and restarting Defender. Works now.

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/fa0698c6c51ff98d404bda2d90397aba8a03488cbe55fb62f1f02db7c63150b8/detection

It’s clean. Stop worrying.

1 Like

As i work in cybersecurity and stumbled on this thread, I’ve had a quick look.
I’ve run the Vital installer within a malicious execution sandbox (depending on your license, Windows comes with one too) with results shared here.
It does show a high result of 8/10, although this is based on one aspect of how the installer (likely) operates. It shows no ransomware characteristics, outbound network traffic, or any other suspicious indicators (this is an automated, not manual analysis).
This does not mean it is not malicious, malware authors are sophisticated, especially considering the potential attack scenario here.

There has been some mention and reliance on VirusTotal, and although it is an indicator for obvious malicious artifacts (it’s fine for a first-pass), sophisticated and polymorphic code means it shouldn’t be relied on as a single point of truth.
Disabling your anti-virus to install the software on your primary machine is a bad idea and should be avoided.

Based on the factors above, it’s potentially a false positive. Vital should however ensure this is true, add a checksum to the download, and give some confidence back to the (seemingly growing) community.

Love the project and the work, keep it up.

10 Likes

Yes, it’s unfortunate, but I use my PC for working from home and my music hobby so anything that threatens my livelihood isn’t going on this box. Hopefully it’ll get whitelisted soon.

1 Like

Any virus warning on Mac

Got the same virus warning this morning after paying for my Pro license and trying to download the latest exe.

Scanned the exe I downloaded yesterday, no virus.

I uninstalled the VST, scanned my plugins in FL Studio, re-installed the VST and standalone version this time with the exe I downloaded yesterday, scanned my plugins in FL Studio. The extra presets did not appear or update. I opened the standalone version and the update download was automatic. Then I had to click the install button. Restarted FL Studio, re-opened Vital and the extra presets were present.

You are very kind to say “kinda” :laughing:

hello to the whole community I just wanted to confirm that at the moment to install vital synth on windows 10 it is necessary to temporarily deactivate windows defender and then reactivate it after downloading and installing the plug in. Here my version vital synth installing on windows 10 :grinning:

To hopefully ease everyone’s mind, I’m not a hacker and have a long history of making music software (working at Cakewalk + Harmonix, Helm before Vital, etc). I would be ruining my reputation and business model by packaging a virus in Vital.

For those of you concerned about a hacker getting into my servers. I just verified the builds on S3 where the builds are stored and everything matches what I uploaded and signed.

As for why Vital is getting marked as a virus, there could be a few reasons why.

There are two types of code signing signatures to, there’s a ‘regular’ version and an ‘extended validation’. I opted for the regular version because I thought at minimum it would take care of this issue. After talking with more audio plugin developers I’ve come to the conclusion that validating using this ‘regular’ code signing certificate is pretty much useless.

There have been a massive number of downloads in a single day. Massive download numbers + my brand new code signing certificate makes Vital look like a Trojan to auto malware detectors. I probably tripped some auto protection mechanism in Windows and/or Chrome after a certain number.

I’m actively trying to fix this but it may take some time to get through to these companies and switch over to an ‘extended validation’ code signing certificate. Thanks for you’re understanding and patience!

14 Likes

Ok thanks for clarifying this, in the mean time, we have to wait for your GO here on the forum or you will send emails to all your email subscribers when everything is sorted out?

Thanks!

Here Vital Synth pilotated by Native Instruments Spiral Sequencer on Live 10 Standard on WIndows 10 :grinning:

It downloaded fine for me just now. Windows Defender blocked it last night, but not now.

1 Like

Seems like it’s slowly being solved for more and more people! If this is still the case for anyone else please hold on tight whilst this issue is being resolved.

I downloaded and installed it last night. I have Kaspersky antivirus and don’t bother with windows defender. I had no issues, no warnings. Smooth sailing.
Matt has been around for a long time with the Helm synth before this, so he’s not gonna jeopardize his position and good reputation.
I used to use Avast and every time I ran an .exe file for a VST it hadn’t heard of, it prevented me installing and sent the file off for analysis, so some antivirus programs are over-protective.

1 Like

Windows Defender keeps flagging every download but Malwarebytes seems unbothered by them, even on direct scan.

This issue is being worked on! Vital is 100% clean I can assure you that

2 Likes

I have also scanned the Win version 1.0.3 and NOD 32 says its clean and NOD is a very trusted antivirus that is known for its ability to detect what many do not usually without false positives due to its advanced architecture. So I too feel its clean.

Nod 32 ranked 9th behind Avast. I don’t use either one.

Thanks Matt!