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Code Published for Triggering a BSOD on Windows Computers -- Even If They're Locked (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the crash-courses dept.

"A Romanian hardware expert has published proof-of-concept code on GitHub that will crash most Windows computers within seconds, even if the computer is in a locked state," writes BleepingComputer. An anonymous reader quotes their report: The code exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft's handling of NTFS filesystem images and was discovered by Marius Tivadar, a security researcher with Bitdefender. The expert's proof-of-concept code contains a malformed NTFS image that users can take and place on a USB thumb drive. Inserting this USB thumb drive in a Windows computer crashes the system within seconds, resulting in a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). "Auto-play is activated by default," Tivadar wrote in a PDF document detailing the bug and its impact...

Tivadar contacted Microsoft about the issue in July 2017, but published the PoC code today after the OS maker declined to classify the issue as a security bug. Microsoft downgraded the bug's severity because exploiting it requires either physical access or social engineering (tricking the user).

4 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Autoplay by war4peace · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, no, Autoplay doesn't have to be enabled, what the researcher meant is that the OS auto-mounts the image anyway, guaranteeing the crash.

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  2. Just tried it by TheDarkener · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Doesn't work, at least on a (since Jan 2018) unpatched Win7 Home Premium system. "The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable" when trying to access the drive even. Maybe I have to patch it?

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  3. Re: Autoplay by toadlife · · Score: 4, Informative

    Windows XP also doesn't know or understand what an NTFS filesystem is anyway

    NTFS is XP's default filesystem.

    --
    I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
  4. Re:USB by toadlife · · Score: 3

    That's because we have real security in place and we can easily handle trivial things like the use of flash drives. Your network administrator and IT department need to be fired and replaced with people who know what they are doing.

    Where the parent works and where you work probably have drastically different security, privacy and regulatory requirements.

    --
    I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.