Can you get a virus from downloading a .avi file?

Question

Can you get a virus from downloading a .avi file? (say from torrent)

Answer 1

Yes.

See my answer here.

http://superuser.com/questions/22271/is-it-possible-to-spread-virus-through-online-embedded-video/22272#22272

Answer 2

I won't say it's impossible, but it would be difficult. The virus writer would have to craft the AVI to trigger a bug in your media player, and then somehow exploit that to run code on your operating system -- without knowing what media player or OS you are running. If you keep your software up to date, and/or if you run something other than Windows Media Player or iTunes (as the biggest platforms, they will be the best targets), you should be pretty safe.

However, there is a related risk that is very real. Movies on the internet these days use a variety of codecs, and the general public doesn't understand what a codec is -- all they know is "it's something I sometimes have to download so the movie will play". This is a genuine attack vector. If you download something and are told "to view this, you need the codec from [some website]", then we very sure you know what you're doing because you could infect yourself.

Answer 3

It's possible, yes, but very unlikely. You are more likely to try and view a WMV and have it auto-load a URL or ask you to download a license, which in turn pops up a browser window which could exploit your machine if it's not fully patched.

Answer 4

Most popular from of 'AVI' viruses I have heard have been,
something.avi.exe files downloaded on a windows machine
that is configured to hide the file extensions in explorer.

The user typically forgets that later fact and assumes the file is AVI.
Coupled to their expectation of an associated player, a double-click actually launches the EXE.

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After that, its been oddly transcoded AVI files that require you to download a new codec to see them.
The so-called codec is usually the real 'virus' here.

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I have also heard of AVI buffer-overflow exploits, but a few good references would be useful.

My bottom line: culprit is usually one of the following rather than the AVI file itself

• The codec installed on your system to handle the AVI
• The player being used
• The file-sharing tool used to get the AVI file

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A short malware prevention reading: P2P or File Sharing

Answer 5

Technically, not from downloading the file. But once the file is opened, it's fair game depending on the player and the codec implementation.

Answer 6

My Avast Antivirus just informed me that there was a trojan embedded in one of my downloaded movie AVIs. When I tried to quarantine it, it said the file is too big and cannot be moved, so I had to delete it instead.

The virus is called WMA.wimad [susp] and is apparenty a medium threat virus that does some sort of browser hijack stuff. Not exactly system breaking, but it does prove that you can get viruses from AVI files.

Answer 7

AVI files wont be affected with virus. When u download movies from torrent, instead of AVI, if the movie is in a rar package or it is as a exe file, then surely there is a chance of virus in it.

Some of them ask u to download additional codec from some website to view the movie. These are the suspectible ones. But if it is AVI, then u can surely give a try playing it in ur Video Player. Nothing will happen.

Answer 8

Yes. A code can be embedded in the file. This also happens with gifs jpegs etc. Really quite scary what you ca do