bootkit

Pierluigi Paganini July 14, 2023
The source code of the BlackLotus UEFI Bootkit was leaked on GitHub

The source code for the BlackLotus UEFI bootkit has been published on GitHub and experts warn of the risks of proliferation of custom versions. Researchers from ESET discovered in March a new stealthy Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) bootkit, named BlackLotus, that is able to bypass Secure Boot on Windows 11. Secure Boot is a security feature of the […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 01, 2023
BlackLotus is the first bootkit bypassing UEFI Secure Boot on Windows 11

ESET discovered a stealthy Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) bootkit dubbed BlackLotus that is able to bypass the Secure Boot on Windows 11. Researchers from ESET discovered a new stealthy Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) bootkit, named BlackLotus, that is able to bypass Secure Boot on Windows 11. Secure Boot is a security feature of the […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 21, 2022
MoonBounce UEFI implant spotted in a targeted APT41 attack

Researchers have spotted China-linked APT41 cyberespionage group using a UEFI implant, dubbed MoonBounce, to maintain persistence. Kaspersky researchers spotted the China-linked APT41 cyberespionage group using a UEFI implant, dubbed MoonBounce, to maintain persistence. At the end of 2021, researchers discovered a UEFI firmware-level compromise by analyzing logs from its Firmware Scanner. Threat actors compromised a single […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 04, 2021
GRUB2 boot loader maintainers fixed hundreds of flaws

Now maintainers at the GRUB project have released security updates to address more than 100 vulnerabilities. GRUB2 (the GRand Unified Bootloader version 2) is a replacement for the original GRUB Legacy boot loader, which is now referred to as “GRUB Legacy”. The mechanism is designed to protect the boot process from attacks. In July 2020, researchers at the cybersecurity firmware Eclypsium disclosed a buffer […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 30, 2017
Millions of Macs open to EFI Firmware Hacks even if they are up-to-date

A group of researchers with Duo Security demonstrated that millions of Up-to-Date Apple Macs are vulnerable to EFI Firmware attacks. In 2015, the security researcher Trammell Hudson demonstrated at the Chaos Computer Congress in Hamburg, how it is possible to infect Apple Mac PCs exploiting the Thunderbolt port. Since the disclosure of the attack against the Apple […]

Pierluigi Paganini June 01, 2015
Mac zero-day makes rootkit infection very easy

A security researcher discovered a zero-day vulnerability in many Mac firmware that could allow an easy installation of an EFI rootkits. The cyber security expert Pedro Vilaça has discovered a low-level zero-day vulnerability in Apple Mac systems that could be exploited by privileged users to more install an EFI rootkits. Vilaça explained that the attack is […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 07, 2015
CERT CC warns about critical flaws in UEFI implementations

The Carnegie Mellon University CERT/CC warned about the presence of serious vulnerabilities in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The CERT/CC has issued three different advisories for security flaws identified in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) (pronounced as an initialism U-E-F-I or like “unify” without the n) is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 05, 2015
Thunderstrike hack – Infecting Apple Mac with EFI Bootkit

A security researcher has presented a technique dubbed Thunderstrike hack to infect Apple’s Mac PCs with with EFI Bootkit through the Thunderbolt port. Infect Apple Mac PCs exploiting the Thunderbolt port is possible, the security researcher Trammell Hudson has demonstrated how it is possible during  the last edition of the annual Chaos Computer Congress in Hamburg, Germany. The […]

Pierluigi Paganini December 31, 2014
Hacking 4G USB modems and SIM Card via SMS

A group of experts managed to uncover USB modem vulnerabilities that allow a potential attacker to gain full control of the connected system. A team of researchers at Positive Technologies conducted a study on how to compromise USB modems and attack SIM cards via SMS over 4G networks at the PacSec and Chaos Computer Club […]

Pierluigi Paganini June 02, 2014
A new way to bypass Secure Boot security mechanism of UEFI

Security Experts discovered a new attack method to defeat Secure Boot security mechanism of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). The Secure Boot security mechanism of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) can be circumvented on around half of PCs that use it, security researcher Corey Kallenberg from nonprofit research organization Mitre has demonstrated it at […]