Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo Utilities Expose PCs To More Attacks

jones_supa writes: It turns out that OEM helper software is still often quite fragile and can expose systems wide open to attack. Currently Lenovo, Dell and Toshiba all have unpatched vulnerabilities in their various support utilities for Windows. These vulnerabilities were discovered by a security researcher who goes by the name Slipstream, and he has posted details onlinealong with proof-of-concept exploit code. The vulnerabilities allow arbitrary code execution, planting malicious files and modifying system registry values.

Comments

Re:Really?

[justthinkit]

Yeah, but there is a new threat/consideration.

I wanted to perma-block Windows 10 on the machines I look after. Ran the batch file that turns everything off. Job done.

Two days later I notice the GWX icon on an HP machine. The "helpful" HP utilities (that I never consciously invoke myself) must have summoned the evil that is WX.

So I re-ran the perma-blocker AND did my best to kill all vestiges of HP helpers on the machine. So far so good.