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Kernel Memory Leak when Malwarebytes is installed


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Hello, I'm experiencing a problem that appears to be identical to the one described in this discussion on Microsoft Technet.

The problem is that when Malwarebytes is installed, terminated processes leave memory unreleased, particularly in the Page Table.  This chews up a lot of memory over time if many processes are started and stopped.

I did not have the program listed as the culprit in the above discussion, so I used DriverView to see all of my installed drivers, started from what was most recently installed or updated and worked back, using RAMMap to see if closed processes remained in the table with memory unreleased.

Malwarebytes seems to be the culprit.  When it is installed, closed processes do not disappear after refreshing the Processes tab in RAMMap, while after uninstalling it, they do disappear.

I was using 3.4.5 when I found the problem, and I get the same problem after updating to 3.5.1.

I'm using a fully-updated Windows 10.

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Reproducing it is just a matter of installing Malwarebytes.  I've attached a number of images to illustrate the difference in system behaviour between having it installed and not having it installed.

What happens with Malwarebytes installed:

Picture 1: Process list view in RAMMap immediately after rebooting the machine.

Picture 2: Same view after starting notepad.exe.  It is using about 3MB of memory.

Picture 3: Same view after closing notepad by clicking the X in the upper-right of the window.  Notepad.exe remains in the list with 72k of memory usage.

 

What happens after uninstalling Malwarebytes:

Picture 4: Process list view in RAMMap immediately after rebooting the machine.  Note that all the entries for OAWrapper.exe from the first set of images are no longer there, and that also the scroll bar indicates that the complete process list is much shorter than it was with Malwarebytes installed.

Picture 5: Same view after starting notepad.exe. It is using about 3MB of memory, same as before.

Picture 6: Same view after closing notepad by clicking the X in the upper-right of the window.  Notepad.exe is no longer on the list.

 

LeakRAMMap1.PNG

LeakRAMMap2.PNG

LeakRAMMap3.PNG

LeakRAMMap4.PNG

LeakRAMMap5.PNG

LeakRAMMap6.PNG

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Update: I've been able to reproduce and informed our engineers, thanks again. Of note, this is from the Ransomware Protection module. Unfortunately simply disabling it does not solve the problem, you have to reboot with the module disabled.

Update 2: This should be fixed in our upcoming standalone update to Anti-Ransomware, which means it should get pulled into our next MB3 release

Edited by dcollins
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  • 4 weeks later...
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Our latest Component Update 1.0.374 contains the fix for the issue reported by @omegaminus. It is being metered out as usual but you can also use the "Install Application Updates" button on the Settings > Application tab to download the latest. 

A reboot would be required after the Component Update to see the benefits of this fix.

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