How to Scan Files for Viruses, Malware and Executable File Types using C/C++

Multiple layers of anti-virus and anti-malware policies are a necessity in modern software architecture, and non-malware content threat detection policies are becoming equally important. Certain types of files, like Executable files, can be uploaded to vulnerable applications or distributed throughout a network, initiating remote code execution and other forms of devastating cyberattacks once downloaded/opened.

Using the below C/C++ code, you can take advantage of a free API that checks files for virus and malware signatures while simultaneously verifying file contents and blocking certain content types. Content threats like Executables can be blocked by setting a relevant Boolean — in this case “allowExecutables” — to “false” in the API request body.

Start by installing libcurl to your C/C++ project:

libcurl/7.75.0

And then use the ready-to-run code examples below:

CURL *curl;
CURLcode res;
curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, "POST");
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.cloudmersive.com/virus/scan/file/advanced");
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1L);
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_DEFAULT_PROTOCOL, "https");
     struct curl_slist *headers = NULL;
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowExecutables: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowInvalidFiles: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowScripts: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowPasswordProtectedFiles: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowMacros: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowXmlExternalEntities: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowInsecureDeserialization: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "allowHtml: <boolean>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "restrictFileTypes: <string>");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Content-Type: multipart/form-data");
     headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Apikey: YOUR-API-KEY-HERE");
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, headers);
     curl_mime *mime;
     curl_mimepart *part;
     mime = curl_mime_init(curl);
     part = curl_mime_addpart(mime);
     curl_mime_name(part, "inputFile");
     curl_mime_filedata(part, "/path/to/file");
     curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_MIMEPOST, mime);
     res = curl_easy_perform(curl);
     curl_mime_free(mime);
}
curl_easy_cleanup(curl);