Xvidsetup.exe Fake Update on Mac

Xvidsetup.exe is the name of a fake browser video plugin updater that contains malware. You may find it on malicious websites, disguised in a fake video player that prompts you to install the Xvidsetup.exe file in the hopes of playing the video.

Chances are, the video does not exist in the first place, because the entire purpose of the fake video frame is to coax the user into clicking and downloading, then installing the fake XVid codec plugin.

The good news is that this piece of malware was made to infect systems running the Windows OS and even if you end up on a website containing the fake codec setup and download it, your system should not be in any real danger.

Executable files in the Windows OS paradigm have the extension .exe for executable. However, a Mac computer cannot run .exe files and any malware contained inside an .exe package should not be able to execute or infect your Mac computer, unless you are running a Windows virtual machine on your Mac and execute the file from inside the virtual machine.

Regardless of this, you should not keep the file around on your system as it is worthless and does not contain any codecs for your Mac. On Macs, you can indeed play XVid-encoded movies, using the official, legitimate XVid component for QuickTime. However, this component is definitely not distributed through shady third-party websites with embedded video players in them.

On a Windows machine, the fake Xvidsetup executable file contains a Trojan horse that can cause a number of significant security problems with the system and open it up to further exploitation and additional malware infections.

On a Mac, the file does not represent a significant threat but should be deleted nonetheless, because it does contain malicious code, even if it cannot directly affect your system, and is not something you want to keep on your hard drive.