is it just me, or is anyone else getting random mods bundled with other more popular ones?

[0Bubby]

so i just downloaded amorous adventures for Osex, and when the installation and deployment finished- suddenly vortex added an extra mod, that i CAN'T even find on nexus because it's been hidden by mods; so can someone tell me how "pimpel von skyrim SE light deutsch" got on my machine? (google translate says it means blue skyrim, but maybe it's SOS?) i'm so confused, and it's not even the first time that i've had a random totally seperate mod download and install itself on my machine, but last time i just overlooked it because i'd already wasted my night on sexlab and T.N.G. right now, i'm getting Osex because so far nothing acc gives "those" anims that we all need for our immersion; but is there a security issue with nexus or something? is there any particular reason that such well known mods are causing totally unrelated, inaccessible mods to be installed without permission? something seriously seems to be amiss here- this is the file in question for any mods/admins who see this and wanna learn more. i'm happy to answer questions, although it's unlikely i'll see replies; but if i do i will absolutely reply ASAP. i don't wanna end up leaving myself completely vulnerable here, and if nobody else is paying any attention yet then i think it's time for us all to start asking some questions, rather than just saying to ourselves "it's skyrim, it just works." 

i would link the file itself, but i don't want anyone else to download it incase it's really something malicious, whatever way it could be in.; the link has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING which tells me mods know something is up, at least with this particular mod. 

[AaronOfMpls]

Not a Vortex user myself, but the closest similar case I can think of involved an unexpectedly identical file on Nexus. 

In that case, someone downloaded SOS, and Vortex seemingly mistook it for an unrelated mod.  Turned out someone else had uploaded SOS to Nexus without permission (mod theft) and renamed the file to try to avoid notice.  Vortex recognized the file (since, other than the name, it was identical) and 'misidentified' it accordingly.

Maybe that hidden mod has an identical file to one you downloaded, and Vortex thought it was being helpful with an apparent update.   Though we won't know unless a moderator chimes in or the mod gets unhidden.  If you read that mod page, it says:

Quote

Hidden at 02 Apr 2023, 1:12PM by bapkules for the following reason:
The mod has (possible) permission issues that the author is working to address.

 

Edited October 28 by AaronOfMpls
added a bit more

[LenaWolfBravil]

Well, the hidden mod notice says that there are issues with permissions. This means that the mod itself is not malicious and won't explode your PC, but the author didn't ask permissions from people who made assets used in the mod. It is not available to view or download manually, but collections can always access any hidden or deleted mods, regardless of their status.

As to why it got installed, that would be because one of the mods in the collection lists it as a required mod.

[0Bubby]

54 minutes ago, AaronOfMpls said:

Not a Vortex user myself, but the closest similar case I can think of involved an unexpectedly identical file on Nexus. 

In that case, someone downloaded SOS, and Vortex seemingly mistook it for an unrelated mod.  Turned out someone else had uploaded SOS to Nexus without permission (mod theft) and renamed the file to try to avoid notice.  Vortex recognized the file (since, other than the name, it was identical) and 'misidentified' it accordingly.

Maybe that hidden mod has an identical file to one you downloaded, and Vortex thought it was being helpful with an apparent update.   Though we won't know unless a moderator chimes in or the mod gets unhidden.  If you read that mod page, it says:

 

it seems like this is the most plausible answer, because i noticed after i made this post that the random file, as well as SOS were conflicting so i just deleted the other one. didn't exactly know what "permission issues" meant, so thanks for the clarification. nice to know what causes weird bugs like this

[AaronOfMpls]

6 minutes ago, 0Bubby said:

didn't exactly know what "permission issues" meant, so thanks for the clarification. nice to know what causes weird bugs like this

You're welcome -- and I'm glad @LenaWolfBravil and I could help with this!

[Pickysaurus]

Vortex would never download a mod without some kind of user input. So if you didn't download a collection the mod will have been one you started the download for. It's quite possible it was mis-recognised as others have said. I will put that page in the moderator queue for review but it does look like they might be distributing some popular sex mods without permission there.