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[return to "Firefox engineers discover a Windows Defender bug that causes high CPU usage"]
1. mconle+h3[view] [source] 2023-04-05 19:04:46
>>mconle+(OP)
TL;DR: Windows Defender had a bug that made certain system calls expensive on CPU cycles when Defender's Real-time Protection feature is enabled. After discovery, Mozilla reported this issue to Microsoft. Microsoft is releasing a patch that should result in lower CPU usage when using Firefox on sites like YouTube (a ~75% CPU usage reduction was noted when browsing YouTube in Firefox with the fixed version of Defender).

It seems like the HN submission form truncated the # from the end of the URL I linked to, which linked to the relevant comment. I'll try that here:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1441918#c82

and

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1441918#c91

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2. zokier+Gi[view] [source] 2023-04-05 20:26:17
>>mconle+h3
Note that this issue is not exclusive to MS Defender, but likely all Windows AV products to varying degrees:

> > I would also like to add that this high CPU usage issue while using Firefox is not exclusive to Microsoft Defender. It's an issue for Norton's AV products also and should be the same for Symantec Endpoint products too.

> > So, you should also test them.

> It is true that we should analyze the situation with other AV vendors, however, given the numbers shared above, and given how relevant it is to keep track of memory protection changes in order to detect malicious behavior, it is very likely that the explanation for Windows Defender also applies (at least in part) to other AV vendors.

Can we get edit on the title?

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