Is Malwarebytes falsely flagging PUP.Optional.BrowserHijack detections?
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TechSavvy101
I've just run a scan with Malwarebytes, and it flagged 12 detections related to PUP.Optional.BrowserHijack. Interestingly, other scanning tools like HitmanPro and Windows Defender didn't find anything suspicious; HitmanPro only detected some tracking cookies. The flagged files seem to share similar file paths like microsoft/edgeuserdata/default/webdata or default/securepreferences. When I quarantine these detections and then reopen Edge, they reappear. Sometimes the detections vary, showing 3 instead of 12. I haven't installed anything sketchy or visited any unusual sites, so I'm wondering if this could be a false positive?
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You’re not alone! I just faced this issue about an hour ago on a new laptop with a fresh OS install. I've never used Edge before either and haven't done anything suspicious. The flagged files I found are located under C:UsersAppDataLocalMicrosoftEdgeUser DataDefaultSync DataLevelDB, but I can’t delete them since they're in use. I didn't quarantine them because I think they're false positives too.
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I've seen the same thing appear not too long ago! I actually don’t even use Edge, but I accidentally opened it last night, and then boom—Malwarebytes flagged a bunch of things. It feels odd, right?
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HelpfulHank: Same here! I tried again later, and all the detections had disappeared for me. It seems like Malwarebytes was flagging some config files or something temporary that shouldn't have been a concern.