Can pk3 files give you a virus

[MasterLevelsArentThatBad:)]

im asking this because i think i want to try a doom mod called doom the golden souls 2

[URROVA]

wad/pk3 mods cant give you virus in any way! Also golden souls 2 is a well known mod so isnt a virus.

[Biodegradable]

[Edit]

 

While there's always the potential of a pk3 harbouring a virus in general, the odds of you getting one from a Doom WAD are pretty slim. Especially those you'll find on /idgames as the archive is moderated to make sure the files it houses are safe to use.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Biodegradable

[The_Trve_Raith]

No. WADs and Pk3s are incapable of giving your computer viruses.

[Teo Slayer]

No way. I have downloaded too many Pk3s and WADs, there was no virus on any on them. They're 100% safe. Also, Golden Souls 2 is a famous mod so it's safe to download too. Download it and have fun with the Doom x Mario thing :)

[DoomGater]

Before posting a question like this:

1. use your brain.

2. use the search function

3. use linux - less virii

 

 

[Redneckerz]

If you weren't too lazy to install an antivirus, than you wouldn't have to ask this question.

 

Your words. Not mine.

[Murdoch]

37 minutes ago, DoomGater said:

use linux - less virii

 

Telling an obviously not very experienced computer user to just install Linux is not stunningly helpful.

[continuum.mid]

Short answer: no

Long answer: any file can give you a virus. However, with WADs and PK3s it's highly unlikely. Just make sure to use them properly and don't download files from sites you don't trust. Also yeah, start using an antivirus, even if it's just Windows Defender. It really helps.

[Nevander]

5 hours ago, URROVA said:

wad/pk3 mods cant give you virus in any way! Also golden souls 2 is a well known mod so isnt a virus.

Not necessarily true. A virus or infected file could be included in a PK3. I don't know if it would infect you by playing it in GZDoom but opening the PK3 manually might or opening the infected file inside would.

[Murdoch]

1 hour ago, Nevander said:

Not necessarily true. A virus or infected file could be included in a PK3. I don't know if it would infect you by playing it in GZDoom but opening the PK3 manually might or opening the infected file inside would.

 

Yes I was thinking the same. Of course ports don't execute code that would affect the wider computer but yeah you could put a virus executable in the archive. But the likelihood of someone running it are pretty much nil.

Edited July 14, 2021 by Murdoch

[TheEvilGrin]

Well pk3s are just zips with a different name so people don't accidentally unzip them ; so in theory, yes. But the Golden Souls is a well-known one (I've played it, and my Pc is still fine) and I've never heard of people doing that (or else they would very probably be banned faster that I can say BFG).

[Dragonfly]

A PK3 is a zip file. Can zip files contain viruses..? Yes, yes they can; as can any file format.

However it's wholly unlikely running a PK3 in GZDoom, even if it did contain a virus, could cause any issues unless an arbitrary code execution exploit is found within the engine; which as far as anyone's aware, doesn't exist.

[OniriA]

7 hours ago, MasterLevelsArentThatBad:) said:

Can pk3 files give you a virus?

 

Yes.

[Edward850]

8 minutes ago, OniriA said:

 

Yes.

No.

[P41R47]

8 hours ago, MasterLevelsArentThatBad:) said:

im asking this because i think i want to try a doom mod called doom the golden souls 2

Read the comments above, and you will have a good answer.

But as other already say, even if there is a virus INSIDE the .pk3, GZDoom can't run it.

 

On other note, please, whenever you download something, never, you heard me, NEVER download a file with the extension .exe that could look suspicious.

For example, you want to download Doom The Golden Souls 2, and when you are asked to where to download the file is called, Doom2GoldenSouls2.exe, never download it.

Or if a page tells you to download a .exe that is a ''download manager'' for what you want to download, don't trust it.

Those download managers are usualy full of harming things like trojans, and even viruses.
If you wait a little, surelly a proper direct download will show up in the page.

 

Only download things you know what they should be.

If you are seeking a .pk3 named GoldenSouls2, just download a pk3 named that way.

It may not be what you are seeking, but it wouldn't harm you in any way.

If the zip you download comes with a .exe AND the .pk3, probably it should also come with a .txt or .pdf, so read it and learn if the .exe included is a modified source-port needed to run what you downloaded.

 

Read this post carefully, and learn from it.
We all made mistakes, and we learn from them.

And surelly we would had love to have someone teach us about those harming things out there.

 

Also, here is a proper download link for Golden Souls 2:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/doom-the-golden-souls-2/downloads

 

[Shepardus]

4 hours ago, Redneckerz said:

If you weren't too lazy to install an antivirus, than you wouldn't have to ask this question.

 

Your words. Not mine.

This is the only answer needed in this thread. It really wouldn't take much effort for you to set up a basic antivirus such as Windows Defender to give you some peace of mind, but instead you create multiple threads asking others to put in the effort for you?

[Murdoch]

56 minutes ago, Shepardus said:

This is the only answer needed in this thread. It really wouldn't take much effort for you to set up a basic antivirus such as Windows Defender to give you some peace of mind, but instead you create multiple threads asking others to put in the effort for you?

 

Unless someone forcibly turns it off or installs another over top of it, Defender is always active in Windows 8 and 10. So statistically speaking this kid probably does have it on, even if he is unaware.

[Major Arlene]

I think that this is a perfectly reasonable question to be asked, guys, let's not get shitty about it, okay? Lots of files coming from lots of different places from lots of different people, and antiviruses don't catch everything.

That said, the chances of people putting virus payloads in their .pk3 or .wad is very slim, but there's a host of ways you can check it/isolate it on top of using an antivirus, one way being a virtual machine, or re-uploading it to another service (pretty sure most .wad files can be uploaded to Google Drive and checked there but I could be wrong, it also depends on file size).

[Edward850]

59 minutes ago, Major Arlene said:

(pretty sure most .wad files can be uploaded to Google Drive and checked there but I could be wrong, it also depends on file size).

A wad file isn't capable of providing a usable payload without the user extracting the files themselves from it*, and a virus scanner would see nothing of value for it to scan given it's not a standard archival format.

 

*Granted this almost wasn't the case. Doom's HUD in the alpha builds was actually x86 code injected from the WAD itself. If I'm remembering that all correctly.

[Komaeda sucks!]

just dont download files like * insert wad name *.wad.exe

 

[Redneckerz]

3 hours ago, Major Arlene said:

I think that this is a perfectly reasonable question to be asked, guys, let's not get shitty about it, okay?

Upon remembering the user, i highlighted his own words. If its a problem, then one would either check if an AV is active, or install one.

Quote

That said, the chances of people putting virus payloads in their .pk3 or .wad is very slim, but there's a host of ways you can check it/isolate it on top of using an antivirus, one way being a virtual machine, or re-uploading it to another service (pretty sure most .wad files can be uploaded to Google Drive and checked there but I could be wrong, it also depends on file size).

My first thought was a zipbomb. As a pk3 is an archive, it could host various files of malicious intent.

[Edward850]

52 minutes ago, Redneckerz said:

My first thought was a zipbomb. As a pk3 is an archive, it could host various files of malicious intent.

That's not what a zip bomb is. A zip bomb isn't called that because of the files it contains, it's called that because of the recursive nature of how the compression is setup. Either decompressing each successive nested zip would fill RAM causing the acting program to crash (i.e a 42 KB archive that contains more nested archives that ultimately would require multiple petabytes to load), or the the actual compressed data is setup so the algorithm will produce an identical zip file of the same contents, meaning you would load into each zip infinitely (until again you run out of RAM). The methodology here is only malicious to naïve automatic scanners, but contains no actual malicious code or could cause any actual damage to the system.

[Redneckerz]

1 hour ago, Edward850 said:

That's not what a zip bomb is. 

Your explanation is what i meant. I should have laid it out better or or not post on phone whilst preparing to go to work.

 

[MasterLevelsArentThatBad:)]

15 hours ago, DoomGater said:

Before posting a question like this:

1. use your brain.

2. use the search function

3. use linux - less virii

 

 

man do you know about something called exploits when there is an exploit found even txt files can be a virus

[MasterLevelsArentThatBad:)]

15 hours ago, Redneckerz said:

If you weren't too lazy to install an antivirus, than you wouldn't have to ask this question.

 

Your words. Not mine.

i mean you are right but i actually scan most files i got off internet with virustotal

just there is a chance a virus can slip by

[MasterLevelsArentThatBad:)]

10 hours ago, Shepardus said:

This is the only answer needed in this thread. It really wouldn't take much effort for you to set up a basic antivirus such as Windows Defender to give you some peace of mind, but instead you create multiple threads asking others to put in the effort for you?

listen there windows defender is so good it thinks ue5 is a virus

[Gez]

here's a zip that can give you a Virus

[DoomGater]

On 7/14/2021 at 10:03 PM, Murdoch said:

 

Telling an obviously not very experienced computer user to just install Linux is not stunningly helpful.

In fact, I did not say INSTALL Linux. but giving it a 2nd thought, even an Linux Installation is easy

and usually done much faster than installing Windows. Maybe you should try it yourself one day?

[DoomGater]

23 hours ago, MasterLevelsArentThatBad:) said:

man do you know about something called exploits when there is an exploit found even txt files can be a virus

Yup, you're right. For security reasons, we should stay away from the computer.