is cheat engine still safe to use?

Akko

ive been using cheat engine since 2014. and i decided to return back in using cheat engine on the year of 2025 around april. iirc, the bitdefender didnt flag cheat engine installer as a virus but i know that windows defender will always mark that program as offercore which means the installer bundled with unwanted program. But then when i tried to reinstall windows on this month, bitdefender flagged it as a virus and put it on disinfection mode. may i ask if thats normally happens for cheat engine to get detected occasionally and gets removed from detection and repeat? because i havent been using cheat engine for like, years long. so i didnt get updated with cheat engine stuff or news. just making sure if the program still safe to use and its just av gets crazy as usual when seeing hacktool.

Alexandru_BD

Hello @Akko,

I think this is an interesting topic. If we look at what online research shows, independent domain reputation trackers put their site in the “high-trust” bracket. From the security perspective, the program itself is open-source and not written to be malicious, but its Windows installer is still bundled with optional adware. Because of that behaviour, and because CE injects code into other processes, many antivirus vendors may tag it as: HackTool:Win32/CheatEngine (Microsoft Defender), PUABundler:Win32/CheatEngine (heuristic flag used by several engines), Generic GameHack, RiskTool or “Potentially Unwanted Application” detections from Kaspersky, Avast, Bitdefender, etc. It's worth mentioning that fake Cheat Engine builds carrying Lua-based malware are circulating on cheat forums..so proceed with caution.

Now, to answer your initial question "is it safe to use?", we have to look at this from multiple angles, and I think there are a few recommendations that can help you decide whether to continue to use it or not. Firstly, the source matters. You should download it only from the official site or the project’s verified GitHub releases. Doing so avoids the fake-installer malware campaign reported in February 2025.

Secondly, I think you should opt for the portable build if you can. It skips the ad-supported installer, dramatically reducing antivirus hits. But I think false positives are expected to happen, because even the clean builds hook processes and load a kernel driver, activities security products flag by design. Further research on this topic and recent audits by hobbyist reverse-engineers have not turned up malicious logic; the security concerns are almost entirely about the optional bundler and the tool’s potential for abuse.

Bottom line is, I think it's safe for power users who know what they are installing. You can also add a manual exclusion in the antivirus, but my advice is to never use builds reposted on cheat-sharing sites and untrusted sources.

Regards