ClamXAV Antivirus Version History and Updates

Latest ClamXAV Releases for macOS

ClamXAV v3.8.1 - 11th February 2025

  • Added a “Check for ClamXAV Updates” menu item
  • Fixed appearance of the About Box in dark mode
  • Fixed issue where Sentry would incorrectly show as being paused
  • Fixed issue where Sentry would unexpectedly become paused
  • Improved Sentry and menu item in multi-user scenario
  • Computer hostname will now be submitted alongside activation data to support an upcoming feature

ClamXAV v3.8 - 26th November 2024

  • Added options for power management:
        -Prevent sleep during scans
        -Allow Mac to wake for scheduled scans 1
        -Put back to sleep after scheduled scan completes
        -Prevent schedules from running on battery power
  • Preference items that require authentication now permit multiple changes within a short timeframe without requiring the password again
        -requires a re-install (see detailed steps)
  • Fix for Last Scan Date not updating properly
  • It’s no longer possible to make the ClamXAV window too small
  • The “drag & drop” Source List item is now automatically selected when ClamXAV is launched via drag & drop or the contextual menu
  • Improved support for air-gapped Macs
  • Improvements in licence handling to more accurately show changes to subscription renewal dates
  • Macs managed by Xenia will now notify the server when their hostname changes
  • It’s no longer necessary to fully re-deploy ClamXAV to bring a Mac under Xenia’s management (see deployment documentation)
  • Finally fixed the issue where my name (Mark Allan) would show in login items
        -requires a re-install (see detailed steps)

ClamXAV v3.7.1 - 23rd September 2024

  • Fix for an issue that prevented large files from being scanned

ClamXAV v3.7 - 7th August 2024

  • Added support for choosing a custom app icon (macOS 10.13+ only)
  • New optional app icon celebrating 20 years of ClamXAV
        -stay tuned for an exciting announcement later this month
  • Added the ability to prune logs from ClamXAV’s Settings
  • Sentry pause duration is now configurable
  • Some background tasks are now disabled when Sentry is disabled
  • More robust download procedure for malware database updates
  • When updating malware DB with ClamXAV in background, don’t bring it to the foreground
  • Malware DB update process no longer prevents the app from quitting
  • Improved error checking and resilience on scanning engine verification
  • Xenia no longer reports a machine as connected (with Sentry incorrectly labelled as OFF) while it’s sleeping
  • General improvements for stability and performance
  • Update for the bundled scanning engine

ClamXAV v3.6.3 - 30th April 2024

  • Improved support for remote installation and update commands sent via the Xenia Management Console
  • Performance improvements and minor bug fixes

ClamXAV v3.6.2 - 18th January 2024

  • Improved messaging when activating a previously deactivated computer
  • Security update details:
    • Description: A local privilege escalation vulnerability was corrected with improved client validation
    • Affected components: Privileged Helper Tool
    • Affected versions: ClamXAV 3.1.2 - 3.6.1
    • Impact: A local attacker can execute arbitrary code with system privileges

Thanks to Patrick Hart (@portugalthe_) for reporting this to us.

ClamXAV v3.6.1 - 21st September 2023

  • Support for macOS 14 Sonoma
  • Fix for scans hanging on certain disk image types
  • Fix an issue where settings delivered from the Xenia Management Console may cause ClamXAV to crash under certain circumstances
  • Security update for the bundled scanning engine

ClamXAV v3.6 - 29th August 2023

  • Improved handling of file exclusion settings
  • Improved stability
  • Improvements in licence management
  • Improvements for remote management
  • Added ability to submit diagnostics from Xenia enterprise management console
  • Added ability to download new set of Override Settings from Xenia management console
  • Added ability to update the app from the command line
  • Added ability to submit diagnostics from the command line /Applications/ClamXAV.app/Contents/MacOS/XAV --submit-diagnostics #### where #### is your ticket number from our helpdesk.
  • Fixed a bug which caused nothing to appear in the reports window
  • Fixed a bug with licence/subscription handling
  • Fixed a bug with DB update scheduling
  • Fixed issue with “Mark Allan” showing up in System Settings (an issue with macOS means this is only resolved for new installations)

ClamXAV v3.5.5 - 21st February 2023

Security update for the bundled ClamAV scanning engine

ClamXAV v3.5.4 - 6th February 2023

  • Fully fixed naming of Login Items on macOS 13 Ventura
  • Fixed a few minor issues with the uninstaller
  • Fixed the issue with Full Disk Access prompts

Special thanks to Mike Bombich of Bombich Software for his assistance.

ClamXAV v3.5.3 - 17th January 2023

  • Improved recognition of Full Disk Access permissions - particularly on MDM managed Macs. XAV command line tool has moved inside the main app bundle now.
/Applications/ClamXAV.app/Contents/MacOS/XAV
  • Improved naming of Login Items on macOS 13 Ventura.
    This may require using the full installer
    Added ability to scan arbitrary files from the XAV command line (beta - please give feedback).
/Applications/ClamXAV.app/Contents/MacOS/XAV --scan /paths/to/scan

ClamXAV v3.5.2 - 10th November 2022

Reverted a change from 3.5.1 which resulted in additional Full Disk Access prompts for part of ClamXAV’s scanning engine.

ClamXAV v3.5.1 - 8th November 2022

  • Improved support for macOS 13 Ventura
  • Improved handling of Full Disk Access checks and messaging
  • Fix for ‘No customer ID’ error from XAV command line tool
  • Fix for engine installer not working on Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra)
    See also the following updates from ClamXAV v3.5 released on 27th September 2022 and subsequently withdrawn.
  • Long-term workaround for Apple’s kernel panic issue
  • Visual improvements to the ClamXAV app icon
  • Fix typo in Czech translation
  • Improve detection capabilities
  • Improve stability
  • Fixed two minor vulnerabilities on website - thanks to report by Gaurang Maheta

ClamXAV v3.4 - 22nd April 2022

  • Further stability on Apple Silicon Macs
  • Improved security of in-app update process
  • Added ability to email a designated contact upon malware detection
    We’re rolling this out to business customers first. Support for Home users coming soon.
  • Added pruning of reports database to XAV command-line tool
/usr/local/ClamXAV3/bin/XAV --prune-logs NNN

where NNN is the number of days to keep [default is 120]

ClamXAV v3.3.1 - 20th December 2021

  • Improved stability, particularly on M1 Macs
  • Improved scanning speed and accuracy

ClamXAV v3.3 - 20th September 2021

  • Fixed the “About” box crash
  • Support for offline database updates (business licence only)
  • Improved stability under scheduling
  • Improved handling of false positives
  • Expanded coverage for Sentry

ClamXAV v3.2 - 1st March 2021

  • Now runs fully natively on M1 Macs
  • New Big Sur-style app icon for ClamXAV
  • Considerably reduced CPU usage
  • Minor visual tweak for macOS 11 Big Sur
  • Fixed intermittent issue with the reports window flashing
  • Removed minimise button on Preferences window for compliance with Apple’s HIG
  • Added French localisation for “Scan with ClamXAV” item in the Services menu
  • Miscellaneous fixes and improvements

ClamXAV v3.1.2 - 11th November 2020

  • Reduced CPU usage
  • Fix for issues with an empty sidebar and crashing database updates
  • Fixed issue preventing external drives/volumes being ejected during a scan
  • Sentry will no longer automatically scan Audio CDs (remember them?)

ClamXAV v3.1.1 - 7th October 2020

  • Improvements in CPU usage
  • Improvements in Time Machine volume recognition
  • Improvements in handling false positives
  • Fix for Full Disk Access menu item showing up (disabled) on macOS before 10.14
  • Fixed typos in French
  • Security update details:
    • Affected parts: Privileged Helper Tool and Privileged Helper Tool Updater
    • Available for: macOS 10.10 and later
    • Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges.
    • Description: A local privilege escalation issue was resolved with improved client verification in the privileged helper tools.

Thanks to Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security for reporting this to us.

ClamXAV v3.1 - 11th August 2020

  • Added support for macOS 11 (Big Sur)
  • Additional log file processing for business customers
  • Improved QuickScan speed
  • Updated French localisation
  • Updated Portugese translation
  • Fixed typo in German localisation
  • Improvements in multi-user setups
  • Improvements to handling of virtual machine images
  • References to “Internet” are now “internet”, inline with current practice and style guidelines.
  • References to “expiry date” are now “renewal date”
  • Fixed intermittent issue where main window may open far too small
  • Fixed issue where clean files may show in the infection list with “(null)” as the infection name.
  • Fixed intermittent issue where Quick Scan would appear like it’s constantly in progress.
  • Fixed an intermittent issue that caused it to look like ClamXAV had hung at the end of a QuickScan
  • Fixed intermittent issue with open panel not showing
  • Fixed an issue preventing an item showing up as deleted
  • Fixed issue with “Last Scanned Date” on macOS 10.15
  • An item’s “Last Scanned Date” now shows relative dates

ClamXAV will now report meta-data on malware detections. Note that we’re tracking malware, not you! See our Privacy Policy for more details.

ClamXAV v3.0.15 - 18th December 2019

  • Improved scan times on macOS 10.15 Catalina
  • Improved reliability of Full Disk Access check
  • Improved removal of configuration profiles
  • Fixed intermittent issue where Sentry wouldn’t honour exclude/ignore settings
  • Fixed intermittent issue where Sentry would attempt to scan external/network disks incorrectly.
  • Improved efficiency
  • Reverts a previous change by excluding the community malware database by default. This may be re-enable via Advanced Preferences
  • Fixed typo in French localisation
  • Resolved issue with networked volumes unexpectedly being scanned on macOS 10.15 Catalina
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes

ClamXAV v3.0.14 - 10th October 2019

  • Qualified for use on macOS 10.15 Catalina
  • Improvements in Full Disk Access
  • Improvements to speed of malware database download and verification
  • ClamXAV Menu item now updates properly when subscription is renewed
  • Improved efficiency for removing some particularly stubborn malware
  • Resolved various issues with mail scanning script
  • Fixed issue where the email scanning script wasn’t being updated properly
  • Resolved an issue with scheduling
  • Fix for Time Machine volume still getting scanned despite being excluded
  • Fix for excessive CPU usage caused by already-heavy load on the computer
  • Resolved issues with preferences override for enterprise customers
  • Resolved an issue with mounting remote volumes during a Quick Scan
  • ClamXAV Menu Item no longer jumps up and down during scanning/updating

ClamXAV v3.0.12 - 15th July 2019

  • Added the ability to deactivate your Mac so you can move your licence to another Mac
  • Added ability (via expert global pref SentryQuarantineDisabled ) to turn off Sentry auto-quarantining
  • Added log rotation for ClamXAV-helper.log file
  • Improved installation of the email scanning script
  • Resolved various bugs with the email scanning script
  • Improved handling of corrupt files
  • Improved reliability of built-in uninstaller
  • Removed some more unnecessary log output
  • Updated non-English translations

ClamXAV v3.0.11 - 13th May 2019

  • Improved support for home folders which have been moved onto different volumes
  • Improvements to malware database download process
  • Improved handling of situation when Apple Mail failed to download an email’s attachments
  • Improvements in subscription handling
  • Fixed issue which could cause ClamXAV to be unresponsive with an empty Source List
  • Fixed issue which prevented ClamXAV checking its own app updates properly
  • Removed some unnecessary log output
  • Updated date in the copyright strings

ClamXAV v3.0.10 - 29th April 2019

  • ClamXAV is now notarized via the Apple Notarization Service
  • Improved visibility of the “Advanced Ignore Settings” button
  • Improved support for scanning email via Apple Mail *
  • Included command line interface to update malware database†
  • Improved the ability to delete hard-to-remove malware
  • Prevent continuous alert sounds during database update if app his hidden or minimized to Dock
  • Fixed issue where ClamXAV might crash when a disk is connected
  • Fixed issue where Sentry doesn’t disable properly
  • Fixed an intermittent issue where the Source List wouldn’t populate
  • Fixed an intermittent issue downloading malware database updates
  • Create a mail rule in Apple Mail to trigger on “Every Message”. Perform a “Run Applescript” action and specify “Scan with ClamXAV”.
    • Infected items will be coloured with a blue background and moved to Junk.
    • Installed at /usr/local/ClamXAV3/bin/XAV

ClamXAV v3.0.9 - 30th December 2018

  • Fix for issue with scheduled scans

ClamXAV v3.0.8 - 19th December 2018

  • Improvements in malware database updates
  • Performance enhancements
  • No longer automatically scans connected hard disks at startup
  • Fixes for German localisation issues
  • Fix for intermittent issue which left source list empty
  • Fix for high cpu usage under certain conditions

ClamXAV v3.0.7 - 26th September 2018

  • Performance improvements

ClamXAV v3.0.6 - 24th September 2018

  • Support for macOS 10.14 Mojave and Dark Mode
  • Added Brazilian Portugese localisation
  • Improved Sentry handling of external volumes
  • Improved drag and drop support for excluding files and folders
  • ClamXAV will now wait for an internet connection before attempting to update its malware database
  • Fixed hang which could occur at launch if one of the database files was missing
  • Fixed erroneous reports of Malware database update failed (32767) in the Reports window

ClamXAV v3.0.5 - 5th September 2018

  • Speed and stability improvements
  • Improvements to engine installation & repair
  • Fixed issue of constantly repairing the scanning engine
  • Fixed issue with ClamXAV Menu Item crashing upon first installation
  • Improved handling of network volumes
  • Sentry now properly recognises and completely ignores Time Machine backup disks
  • Resolved issue where database update stayed at 0% despite the update actually taking place in the background
  • The Reports Window no longer allows you to select “Reveal in Finder” for a file that’s been deleted
  • Improved wording for incomplete scans in the Reports Window

ClamXAV v3.0.4 - 21st August 2018

  • Stability improvements
  • Reduced CPU usage during scan
  • Fix for Sentry not honouring the “scan inserted volumes” setting
  • Improved handling of Time Machine and Time Capsule disks
  • Improved handling of app updates via the ClamXAV Menu Item
  • Fixed issue where scan settings may not be saved when changing selected source list item
  • Fixed issue that caused Little Snitch to block ClamXAV’s internet access

ClamXAV v3.0.3 - 16th August 2018

  • Improved wording of Sentry options in the Settings Area
  • Fixed issues regarding downloading malware database
  • Fixed inability to disable Sentry background monitor
  • Fixed crash related to handling of exclusion settings

ClamXAV v3.0.2 - 15th August 2018

  • Fix for issues downloading malware database

ClamXAV v3.0.1 - 15th August 2018

  • Fix for German localisation
  • Fixed ClamXAV 2 registration key recognition for commercial licences

ClamXAV v3.0 – 15th August 2018

Everything is new. Every single bit.
There’s far too much to list everything here, but here are some headline updates:
The biggest update since 2009!
Totally rebuilt from the ground up
Completely new user interface but it should still feel familiar
Vastly improved, fully-integrated, log viewer
Reduced CPU usage of main app
You can run multiple scans at one time
Complete integration of all component parts (Main app, Sentry, Scheduling, Reports)
Smart source list which automatically displays all available volumes.
You can now have per-source-item scan settings
…along with different exclude settings per scan item
You can enable/disable quarantine per scan item
… and even enable/disable quarantine during a scan
We’ve added copy & paste support for “exclude file settings” (between source list items as well as copying files from Finder)
If you quit ClamXAV, the scan will continue
All-new ClamXAV menu item which shows progress of all current scans and database updates
There’s so much more, but I think you get the gist. It’s all new!

  1. A laptop sleeping with the lid closed cannot be woken by any app ↩︎