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Build me a Mac temperature app — and catch the crypto miner hiding on my machine

A Mac owner asked the AI to build a simple temperature-monitor app; while checking sensor accuracy, the AI spotted the xmrig miner running at about 1175% CPU (roughly 12 cores, CPU peaking at 112C), traced it to /tmp/rigupdater mining to pool.hashvault.sh, and found a random-named LaunchAgents startup item dating to Aug 29. The AI stopped and asked before killing or removing anything. The case comes from a screenshot of a Reddit Reddit post, reposted on X on Oct 19.

This only partly worked. Read what happened before you try it.

How it works

  1. Ask the AI to build a temperature-monitor app
  2. The AI checks sensor accuracy
  3. Spots xmrig at about 1175% CPU with the CPU peaking at 112C
  4. Traces it to /tmp/rigupdater mining to pool.hashvault.sh
  5. Finds a random-named LaunchAgents startup item dated Aug 29
  6. Stops and asks before killing or removing anything

Why it’s worth knowing

The malware was not the task — an app-building agent found a miner cooking its owner's CPU as a side effect of checking its own work.

Where it’s from

Summarized from a public post on whatagentscando.com. See the original ↗

Upgraded prompt

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Every idea is a real post from someone who tried it, summarized in our words, with a link to the original. App names are swapped for plain words.