PDFs generated since using Bitdefender are flagged as infected when uploaded to destination website.

YuliyaRothman

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone has had the following issue. PDF files are being rejected from a UK visa centre website because their security system marks them as "virus infected". Conversely, PDFs created on a different machine, which hasn't got bitdefender installed and running can be sent to me via email and I can successfully upload them on the above mentioned website.

Fyi. I think the website uses CloudFlair.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Alexandru_BD

Hello @YuliyaRothman and thanks for joining us here.

I think this could have something to do with a false positive trigger.. If the website you are uploading to uses an antivirus engine or Cloudflare security scanning that happens to match that embedded data against a signature that it incorrectly flags as malicious, you may get the “virus infected” notice. To check this, I think you can generate a PDF on the machine where Bitdefender is installed and another PDF from the non-Bitdefender machine. You can use a tool like Adobe Acrobat (Properties → Additional Metadata) or online PDF metadata viewers to see if there are suspicious/extra tags in the files.

You could also try a different PDF creator or “print to PDF” utility (for example, Microsoft Print to PDF, Adobe Acrobat, or another standard PDF printer) on the device protected by Bitdefender. Sometimes, the default PDF printer that ships with certain software or the OS might trigger fewer issues. Another thing to try is to temporarily disable Bitdefender or its security modules one by one (like OTP or ATD) and recreate the PDF to see if it still triggers the website’s security scanner. If it no longer gets flagged, you’ve likely isolated a false positive. Here's the full guide on how to temporarily disable the Bitdefender security modules for troubleshooting purposes:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/28557/

Just make sure to reactivate your defenses once you're done.

If I recall correctly, in Adobe Acrobat or similar tools, you can “flatten” the file (eliminating hidden form fields, scripts, etc.) and reduce it to basic text and images. This often helps remove any unusual embedded elements.

Other possible fixes or workarounds are to disable JavaScript when creating or saving PDFs if you have control over that setting, and maybe use a PDF sanitizer (like qpdf or specialized PDF security tools) to strip all scripts and advanced features.

To exclude any network or IP-specific blocking, try uploading the exact same PDF from a different network or different browser (using the device where Bitdefender is installed ofc). If it suddenly goes through, it might indicate IP or network-based filtering. Also make sure your system date/time and browser are up to date (some security checks get tripped by out-of-sync system clocks or old TLS protocols). Test using a different browser as well, to rule out a browser-specific add-on or extension conflict.

If nothing helps, I would recommend contacting the Bitdefender Support Teams, as more information might be required to troubleshoot this. You can get in touch with the Bitdefender engineers by choosing one of the contact channels listed here:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

State your contact reason / choose request category, then choose from the available contact channels, chat, phone and email/ticket. Chat would be the fastest way to reach them.

Let me know what worked for you.

Regards,

Alex