Malwarebytes seemingly caused sever slowdown of overall system performance

[level42]

So, for the last few weeks, I've noticed performance of my system degrading in the following ways:

A.) Video/Audio falling out of sync on video playback.
B.) Stuttering Video.
C.) Stuttering Audio.
D.) Laggy mouse movements.
E.) Frame drops in low tier games.

While experiencing this, I've noticed that almost immediately upon quitting MalwareBytes, these issues seem to all but disappear. Thus, I have to attribute these issues to MalwareBytes.

I found a similar thread that was posted a few weeks ago, that has discussed a similar problem, so I decided to post my own thread. https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/258119-malwarebytes-causing-computer-to-run-slow/

I've gone ahead and followed the steps in the initial response and provided my logs below.

The issue seems to appear not immediately upon launching MalwareBytes, but as mentioned, when the issues arise, I can quit MalwareBytes, to get seemingly full system stability back.

mbst-grab-results.zip

[Malwarebytes]

***This is an automated reply***

Hi,

Thanks for posting in the Malwarebytes for Windows Help forum.

If you are having technical issues with our Windows product, please do the following:

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This feature is designed for the following reasons:

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[level42]

I have also completed the "Clean" process as reported above, and reinstalled the latest Malwarebytes, I will continue to monitor it.

[Porthos]

31 minutes ago, level42 said:

The issue seems to appear not immediately upon launching MalwareBytes, but as mentioned, when the issues arise, I can quit MalwareBytes, to get seemingly full system stability back.

I would test Malwarebytes by turning off protection modules one at a time and test for a few days.

Start with Web Protection. If that does not solve it. turn it back on. and move to ransomware protection. do the same for a few days.

To keep you system protected install and use Malwarebytes Browser Guard to cover what Web Protection does.

[level42]

Ok, so, bit late getting back, but based on my observation, the issue seems to be most prevalent when the web protection module is enabled ...

[Porthos]

50 minutes ago, level42 said:

Ok, so, bit late getting back, but based on my observation, the issue seems to be most prevalent when the web protection module is enabled ...

I figured that.

The options are keep Web protection off and also assist us with log gathering to help determine the cause or revert to an older version.

What would you like to do? I will provide the steps when you respond about your choice.

[level42]

I mean, I'd prefer to have the protection on, I can disable it and send you whatever logs you need.

[Porthos]

40 minutes ago, level42 said:

I mean, I'd prefer to have the protection on, I can disable it and send you whatever logs you need.

More than likely this will not change or correct the issue, but it will ensure that your installation is good and no corrupt or any old files that did not get updated.

 

Please try the following STEPS

 

STEP 1
Please do the following Uninstall and reinstall Malwarebytes using the Malwarebytes Support Tool

Please have lots of patience with the tool.  The first phase is a cleanup and does require a Windows Restart.
After the Restart, it may take 2 - 3 - 4 minutes till the Support tool screen shows up.   Please be patient and have faith.  Wait for it, whatever it takes.
The 2nd phase is where it offers to do a new Install.

 Let us know if that clears up the issue or not.

 

If STEP 1 did not help then please restart the computer and  proceed to STEP 2 so that we can get logs to help us determine the cause

STEP 2
When the issue occurs, do you have a VPN or any other network filtering software enabled (besides Malwarebytes)?
Does this issue consistently present itself when Web Protection is enabled?
Does the issue occur when you are not using Bittorent, qBittorrent, or any other P2P torrent software?

We're in need of additional information to help narrow down the cause of this issue.
Part of this process will involve manually triggering a crash to obtain a memory dump, which will hopefully show what the Web Protection driver is doing to cause this issue. You can read more about this process here.

• Enable debug logging in Malwarebytes (Settings -> General -> Event log data).
• Quit Malwarebytes using the notification area icon. (right-click Quit-Malwarebytes)
• If Smart Screen attempts to block the next step please tell it to allow it.
• Download and double-click the following .reg file: https://malwarebytes.box.com/s/21gdrmaj74xbeiazf6km7tfube246eid
• Download and double-click the following .reg file: https://malwarebytes.box.com/s/c323ski2qkrdvwds615z00j3hg75fn0y
• Restart the computer.
• Launch Malwarebytes and ensure Web Protection is enabled.
• Reproduce the issue.

Once you've reproduced the issue and are actively experiencing it, force a crash by pressing the following keys at the same time: Left Ctrl+Left Alt+U+U.

After the machine has rebooted, you should find a memory dump named MEMORY.dmp in C:\Windows. Please zip this up and provide it to us.

Please follow the directions from the following topic:  Upload Malwarebytes Support Tool logs offline and upload that new log as well on your next reply
 

Thank you

[level42]

I have completed Step 1, for a second time now (this was initially completed at the time of my first post), however, I will monitor the situation again, and proceed to step 2 if the problem persists.

[level42]

When the issue occurs, do you have a VPN or any other network filtering software enabled (besides Malwarebytes)? 
I do not currently use a VPN, or any other network filtering software.

Does this issue consistently present itself when Web Protection is enabled?
Yes, however not immediately ... when Web Protection is enabled, it takes about an hour or so of dedicated system use to start noticing the degrade in performance. (For example, today I noticed Spotify music starting to become staticy. I disabled Web Protection and almost immediately the audio quality improved)

Does the issue occur when you are not using Bittorent, qBittorrent, or any other P2P torrent software?
Have not noticed as qBittorrent is always running. I have re-enabled Web Protection and exited qBittorrent. Will continue to monitor.

 

mbst-grab-results.zip

[level42]

Here is my memory .dmp, which was too large to upload here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kr9tgtq1ffwljxy/MEMORY.7z?dl=0

[Porthos]

I will have @LiquidTension take a look at the logs when available.

[OlafE]

I experience the same after updating Windows 10 on my PC with feature update 2004. All web based applications (be it web browsers, Outlook, Skype, Teams) or a Remotedesktop session through a Sophos SSLVPN tunnel go either into timeouts or are awfully slow.

Rolling back to 1903 solved the immediate issue, installing 2004 again with disabled protection modules did not hamper with the performance.

Reenabling those almost instantly brought the issues back. Restarting the PC and disabling web protection module seems to have solved the issue for now.

Best greetings from Germany
Olaf

[Porthos]

5 hours ago, OlafE said:

Restarting the PC and disabling web protection module seems to have solved the issue for now.

There is a known incompatibility between Sophos and Web Protection that has existed for some time. Web protection on one or the other must be disabled for them to co exist.

 

[level42]

... Any update?

[exile360]

Greetings,

Upon searching for the term 'Sophos' on the Malwarebytes support page I found this support article indicating that they are aware of the conflict and that it is the result of both products using the same WFP APIs.  If the fact that both are forced to use the same APIs due to Microsoft's design and requirements for modern Windows versions which include WFP (every Windows OS starting with Vista) then it is possible that the only way to use both products is to keep the web protection feature in one of the two products disabled, meaning it is possible that there is nothing that can be done by Malwarebytes' Developers to work around or resolve the conflict short of removing Web Protection from the product which I'm sure they wouldn't even entertain considering its effectiveness.

That's just my take on it based on the available info though, so if a staff member indicates that the Developers are working on the issue and/or that it can be fixed then I defer to their first-hand knowledge of the situation.