CurseForge PC game mod users may have received malware as part of a recent hack

Popular modding tool CurseForge has been compromised.

For those of you using CurseForge for modding Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and other games, you may want to read this.

CurseForge is a popular modding platform. The tool was previously independent, but then changed hands to Amazon's Twitch, but is now once again a separate entity, owned by modding tools purveyor OverWolf. CurseForge has long been my go-to tool for installing mods for World of Warcraft, and many thousands of players use the platform for modding other games, including Minecraft. However, those who have been using it for Minecraft recently may need to run a malware detector.

Sadly, CurseForge was recently breached by malicious actors. The hackers baked malware directly into popular Minecraft mods, then used CurseForge to distribute the malware to unsuspecting users' machines.

We are looking into an incident where a malicious user uploaded projects to the platform. This is relevant only to Minecraft users and we have banned all accounts involved.CurseForge itself is not compromised in any way! Please follow the thread below for more information 👇June 7, 2023

CurseForge has issued its own tool to detect infections, although it's unclear how powerful this is at this time. CurseForge has urged users not to delete the CurseForge client, but to be safe, you may want to avoid updating or downloading new mods for the time being.

Our team has made a Detector Tool that will help you detect the relevant malware. This tool relied on the amazing work of the author community who has investigated these malicious files. Read more and get the tool here: https://t.co/NKHQIq7JtVJune 7, 2023

CurseForge is a very popular tool, so the scale of the malware distribution could be very dire. Minecraft players are often younger too, and having to deal with malware is stressful for anyone, let alone youngsters. Sadly this is an all-too-often occurrence with modding platforms, but it at least seems CurseForge is working to mitigate the damage.

We have some guides on how to remove malware in Windows 10 and 11, and best anti-virus tools for Windows, but if these malware programs are newer, they may not show up in the latest definition updates until a little later. For now, I would avoid updating your Minecraft mods via CurseForge until they've given the all-clear.

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Jez Corden a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by caffeine. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his Xbox Two podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!