Claude Code incidentally spots an xmrig cryptominer on a user's Mac
A Reddit user, UntilHEX, had Claude Code build a Mac temperature monitor app; when the agent dumped raw sensor readings to check accuracy, the numbers looked far too high, so it checked CPU usage and found the xmrig cryptominer consuming about 1175% CPU, roughly 12 cores. Tom's Hardware, citing the post and a screenshot of the Claude Code window, reported the CPU peaked at 112 degrees Celsius and that the agent declined to remove anything on its own, instead offering to stop the startup item and miner and quarantine the files. The user later said Claude was tasked with the cleanup, that only one file had to be deleted manually because of an access issue, and that a Malwarebytes scan was run to check the result.
The anecdote suggests a coding agent reading system data can surface a security problem by accident, but it rests on one user's account and press coverage rather than independent verification.
| I had Claude Code build me a Mac temperature monitor app. When it dumped the raw sensor readings to check they were accurate, the numbers looked far too high, so it checked what was using the CPU. It found a crypto miner (xmrig) running at ~1175% CPU, about 12 cores, on my Mac. Kinda impressive lol. explains why my mac has been running like shit. submitted by /u/UntilHEX [link] [comments] |