This article has been made with the main idea in mind to explain what is the Mrt.app and how you can remove it completely from your Mac.
A new infection, attacking Mac users has been detected to hijack the MRT.app in the Library of your Mac. The program is believed by researchers to be a hijacking Trojan horse which affects legitimate processes of the victims’ Macs, so that the malware remains persistent on them. In addition to this, the MRT.app may have something to do with a false positive in relation to some antivirus programs that display detection. If you see the MRT.app infection to be detected n your mac, we recommend that you read this article to be able to understand when the MRT is malware on your Mac and when it’s a false positive and how you can remove the MRT.app if it is, in fact, malicious.
Threat Summary
| Name | MRT.app "Virus" |
| Type | Malware or a false-postive for Mac OS |
| Short Description | Believed to come from the Malware Removal Tool (MRT), but could also be detected in relation with a virus on your Mac. |
| Symptoms | Detections continue to reappear in relation to MRT.app and the virus can replicate onto different legitimate Mac apps. |
| Distribution Method | Either a false positive or if malware, may be distributed via e-mail or files, pretending to be legitimate. |
| Detection Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware Download Combo Cleaner | User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss MRT.app "Virus". |
MRT.app Detection – How Did I Get It
Users on reddit have complained of getting the MRT.app detected as infection on their antivirus software. The reports were associated with the app, located in the follwing path:
→ /System/Library/CoreServices/MRT.app
The reports were quickly answered as this is the Malware Removal Tool which is enabled by default on the users’ Macs. The tool is part of the embedded malware protection and likely detected by third-party antivirus programs as a virus itself, because of the escalated permissions it has over the apps. Avast support had the following to reply on their security forums:
“Re: False positive in Swift standard library? « Reply #7 on: Today at 10:26:55 PM » Hello,
sorry for your inconvenience, we are working on fix and it will be release asap.”
Other users report that the core of the conflict is within how Apple Swift library interacts with any third party antivirus programs, although no specific details were yet revealed.
What Does MRT.app Do If Malicious
Even though most reports have outlined the MRT.app detection as being a false positive, reappearing of the detection after users have reported it to most antivirus vendors may mean that it could be malicious. One of the strongest symptoms of the MRT.app being malicious is for the file to have another location as the one we have shown above. If so, then you would need to consider understanding the risks of any virus-related attack that uses the name MRT.app as a pretext to conduct it’s malicious activities.
In the events that the MRT.app is malicious, be advised that you should be aware of the fact that it can perfrom the following malicious activities on your Mac:
- Migrate to other processes and apps.
- Obtain information from your Mac’s drive.
- Cause your Mac to crash.
- Erase important information from your Mac.
- Gain live access to what you do on your Mac’s Desktop.
- Take screenshots.
- Track the keystrokes you type.
- Steal your Apple ID and other account names and passwords.
- Install other viruses on your Mac.
- Run a cryptocurrency miner malware.
If you have seen one of those symptoms, then you should do a second check up on your Mac for any viruses that may be MRT.app related or interfering with MRT so that they remain undetected.
Remove MRT.app – Related Viruses from Your Mac
If you want to stop the false positive detection of the MRT.app on your Mac it is rather easy – simply white list the folder of MRT.app in your antivirus program. If you, however believe that your Mac has been infected by malware, we would recommend that you follow the removal instructions underneath this article to remove any apps that might cause you trouble. If you cannot identify the source of the problem, then experts always recommend to download and run a scan, using an advanced anti-malware program. Such tool will automatically detect and remove any malware that may be causing issues on your Mac.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
Follow Me:
Preparation Phase:
Before starting to follow the steps below, be advised that you should first do the following preparations:
- Backup your files in case the worst happens.
- Make sure to have a device with these instructions on standy.
- Arm yourself with patience.
Step 1: Uninstall MRT.app "Virus" and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove MRT.app "Virus" via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Remove MRT.app "Virus" – related extensions from Safari / Chrome / Firefox
Remove an extension from Safari and reset it.
Remove a toolbar from Google Chrome
Remove a toolbar from Mozilla Firefox
Step 3: Scan for and remove MRT.app "Virus" files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as MRT.app "Virus", the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
