Why my app is malware?

Grzegorz 0

Hi,

I'm a Mac developer and I'm currently trying to submit my first Windows app to the Microsoft Store. The submission is rejected with the message: "10.2.3.1 Security - Malware", but there's no information about which part of the app is malware, what should I remove or correct. Why the reviewer thinks the app is malware? The app is not complicated (it's a folder comparison tool) and I have no idea where to look for malware code in the app. **I also submitted the application to Microsoft analyser **which did not detect any malware.

What are the options for appealing or obtaining more details regarding reject?

Jiale Xue - MSFT 46,456 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-07-26T14:46:13.2633333+00:00

Hi @Grzegorz , Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

You can add security signatures to your software, which is an important step to help prevent applications from being mistaken for malware.

Sign your application with a code signing certificate. This is a standard practice for verifying the publisher's identity and ensuring that the software has not been tampered with. The Microsoft Store requires all applications to be signed and recommends using a certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA).

Best Regards,

Jiale

If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
Grzegorz 0 Reputation points

2024-07-26T15:42:49.46+00:00

Thanks for your answer. My app is signed - it is not possible to submit an app to the Microsoft Store without signing the code. The signature is checked automatically during package validation, before the review. Please see screenshots: https://naarakstudio.com/download/tmp/DirEqualValidation.png and https://naarakstudio.com/download/tmp/DirEqualCert.png

I use a code signing cert from certum.eu
Junjie Zhu - MSFT 18,486 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-07-29T07:13:41.0833333+00:00

Hi @Grzegorz ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

According to the Security Policies

Your product must not contain or enable malware as defined by the Microsoft criteria for Unwanted and Malicious Software. Further, your product must not offer to install secondary software that is not developed by you and does not enhance the functionality of your product.

Please check the content in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-xdr/criteria#malware,

Does your software's functionality meet the definition of malware?

Thank you.
Grzegorz 0 Reputation points

2024-07-29T07:50:48.42+00:00

My app doesn't contain or enable malware. DirEqual is not malware, but a folder comparison tool. The app has been checked for malware by the Microsoft Store robot ( https://naarakstudio.com/download/tmp/DirEqualValidation.png) - you can see it is CLEAN. But app review failed with message "10.2.3.1 Security - Malware". There is also no information about what part of the application is not accepted. So what should I improve?
Junjie Zhu - MSFT 18,486 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-07-30T03:40:13.4966667+00:00

Hi @Grzegorz ,

For your scenario, I'd suggest you send an email to Microsoft Store Report App Team(reportapp@microsoft.com) to confirm the issue.

Share via

Why my app is malware?

Your answer