Transmission 2.9 might be malware-infected. Update to 2.91 instead

[p3ncil]

Everyone running 2.90 on OS X should immediately upgrade to 2.91 or delete their copy of 2.90, as they may have downloaded a malware-infected file.

Using “Activity Monitor” preinstalled in OS X, check whether any process named “kernel_service” is running. If so, double check the process, choose the “Open Files and Ports” and check whether there is a file name like “/Users//Library/kernel_service”. If so, the process is KeRanger’s main process. We suggest terminating it with “Quit -> Force Quit”.

https://www.transmissionbt.com

 

[RootBeerMan]

Thanks for the heads up, OP. My version of Transmission was an older one, so I managed to skip over the infected one. That's a relief.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Thanks for the heads up.

How come it 'may be' infected? Aren't they distributing the same binary everywhere?

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks for the heads up.

How come it 'may be' infected? Aren't they distributing the same binary everywhere?

https://forum.transmissionbt.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17834

There is a forum post here with a comment from the dev toward the bottom and he does not seem to be very forthcoming about exactly what happened.

 

[pedrom]

Thanks for your post. Transmission is a fundamental piece of software. How did this happen?

 

[amors]

Apple users targeted in first known Mac ransomware campaign: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-ransomware-idUSKCN0W80VX

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Apparently Gatekeeper has already been patched to disallow installation of Transmission 2.90. Current installs still may be dangerous though.

But this is a really bad kink in Transmissions facade.

 

[pedrom]

Apparently Gatekeeper has already been patched to disallow installation of Transmission 2.90. Current installs still may be dangerous though.

But this is a really bad kink in Transmissions facade.

Let's just hope that they are honest about it and share how did this happen.

It's situations like this that pisses me off with Apple and the Mac app store situation.

 

[dejo]

Mod Note: Discussion continues here: First Mac Ransomware Found in Transmission BitTorrent Client