The VideoLAN Forums

Why vlc need to access network

To check for updates and retrieve metadata.

My VLC updated itself to 3.0.7.1 Vetinari and I also got a Windows Defender prompt when I started VLC.

I don't know if my issue is the same as @rajchut558 but for me, Windows Defender blocked an attempt to set up incoming network connections on the local network. This implies that VLC is setting itself up as a server of some sort. That's unrelated to checking for updates and retrieving metadata.

I'm not certain if I was running 3.0.7 or 3.0.6 prior to the 3.0.7.1 update. The uninstall.log file did not say. I decided to try 3.0.7.

Unfortunately, I can't reproduce the issue. When the block prompt came up I had clicked "continue blocking." I then uninstalled 3.0.7.1, installed 3.0.7, don't see the issue, uninstalled 3.0.7, installed 3.0.7.1 again and still don't see the issue. VLC was in the Windows Defender list of allowed apps but with the check box turned off. I tried deleting the unchecked allowed-program entry, started VLC, but still don't get prompted again. I don't know if VLC remembered that attempting to become a server failed and won't try it again or if Windows Defender still remembers it blocked vlc.exe and is still blocking it. I tried installing 3.0.7.1 to a different path but still was unable to reproduce what happened. I also tried installing 3.0.7 and then doing a "check for updates" to have it find and install 3.0.7.1.

VLC does not store very much in the registry. There's nothing in vlc-qt-interface.ini that looks like a flag to disable a media server.

I checked news.txt but don't see anything that looks like the addition of a media server for 3.0.7.1 nor 3.0.7 that could have triggered this prompt.

@rajchut558 - are you still getting prompted by Windows Defender?