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32TB of Windows 10 Internal Builds, Core Source Code Leak Online (theregister.co.uk)

Posted by BeauHD on from the treasure-hunt dept.

According to an exclusive report via The Register, "a massive trove of Microsoft's internal Windows operating system builds and chunks of its core source code have leaked online." From the report: The data -- some 32TB of installation images and software blueprints that compress down to 8TB -- were uploaded to betaarchive.com, the latest load of files provided just earlier this week. It is believed the data has been exfiltrated from Microsoft's in-house systems since around March. The leaked code is Microsoft's Shared Source Kit: according to people who have seen its contents, it includes the source to the base Windows 10 hardware drivers plus Redmond's PnP code, its USB and Wi-Fi stacks, its storage drivers, and ARM-specific OneCore kernel code. Anyone who has this information can scour it for security vulnerabilities, which could be exploited to hack Windows systems worldwide. The code runs at the heart of the operating system, at some of its most trusted levels. In addition to this, hundreds of top-secret builds of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016, none of which have been released to the public, have been leaked along with copies of officially released versions.

3 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Reminds me ... by Bert64 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then you should have redesigned the network such that the printers were not directly accessible to users, and they had to funnel data through a central print server which *does* log what was printed and by whom. Aside from the reason given (likely a severe violation of the company code of conduct), you get other benefits too like keeping (usually horrendously insecure) printers away from the user network, being able to tell who's printing copies of company data that might have leaked out, and keeping track of how much is being printed.

    --
    http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  2. Betaarchive admin official statement by ark1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    https://www.betaarchive.com/fo...

    Seems The Register story may not be accurate, or if you prefer FAKE NEWS!

  3. Winbeta themselves have refuted almost everything by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · · Score: 4, Informative

    Source

    The Register article has got BetaArchive a fair amount of attention this evening. They claim, and I quote âoe32TB of Windows 10 internal builds, core source code leak onlineâ.

    First of all let us clear up a few facts. The âoeShared Source Kitâ folder did exist on the FTP until this article came to light. We have removed it from our FTP and listings pending further review just in case we missed something in our initial release. We currently have no plans to restore it until a full review of its contents is carried out and it is deemed acceptable under our rules.

    The folder itself was 1.2GB in size, contained 12 releases each being 100MB. This is far from the claimed âoe32TBâ as stated in The Registerâ(TM)s article, and cannot possibly cover âoecore source codeâ as it would be simply too small, not to mention it is against our rules to store such data.

    At this time all we can deduct is that The Register refers to the large Windows 10 release we had on March 24th which included a lot of Windows releases provided to us, sourced from various forum members, Windows Insider members, and Microsoft Connect members. All of these we deemed safe for release to BetaArchive as they are all beta releases and defunct builds superseded by newer ones, and they were covered under our rules.

    If any of this should change we will remove these builds from the FTP and we will happily comply with any instructions to do so by Microsoft.

    With regards to the BBC article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/tech... about two Britons that have been arrested following an alleged Microsoft hack, we donâ(TM)t believe there is any connection with this alleged âoeWindows 10 core source code leakâ.

    Update 09:58 GMT 24/06/2017 A spokesperson for Microsoft contacted The Register and said: "Our review confirms that these files are actually a portion of the source code from the Shared Source Initiative and is used by OEMs and partners."