UEFIs booting Windows and Linux devices can be hacked by malicious logo images.

Just about every Windows and Linux device vulnerable to new LogoFAIL firmware attack::UEFIs booting Windows and Linux devices can be hacked by malicious logo images.

  • @BearOfaTime@lemm.eeEnglish
    68•1 year ago

    Every device booting from UEFI is vulnerable. It’s neither a Windows nor Linux issue, it’s UEFI.

    Because UEFI has Code-execution capability before OS loads. In this case it’s for the logo

    • setsubyouEnglish
      26•1 year ago

      It’s not related to Windows or Linux, but as the article notes, Apple devices that use UEFI are not vulnerable (and current ones don’t use it anymore and therefore aren’t vulnerable either), so I guess that’s where the “Windows or Linux” comes from.

      • @gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        10•1 year ago

        And I can install FreeBSD or OpenBSD on a non-Apple machine, and it will have the same security issue.

        The article is written inaccurately. The issue is that the industry-standard pre-OS-load firmware patterns and interfaces (BIOS/EFI/UEFI) are vulnerable. Apple uses nonstandard/highly customized hardware, firmware, and software (because they’re more or less completely vertically integrated), and their custom stuff doesn’t have the same flaw due to that customization.

  • Tar_AlcaranEnglish
    15•1 year ago

    Can anyone explain to me if this is an actual risk outside a highly controlled environment? AFAIK, it’s a pretty non-casual thing to change the UEFI boot logo, so wouldn’t that make this pretty hard to actually pull off?

    • @Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14•1 year ago

      The article quoted the researchers who indicated it can be done with remote access by using other attack vectors. This is because most UEFI systems store the logo on disk in the EFI system partition. It doesn’t need to do anything crazy like compile and flash a modified firmware. All it needs to do is overwrite the logo file on disk.

      • Tar_AlcaranEnglish
        3•1 year ago

        Ah, that’s much easier than I thought. I guess I’m horrible out of date on my “messing with BIOS” knowledge

  • @YodaDaCoda@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    13•1 year ago

    I want my computer to run an open-source BIOS/UEFI but the set of systems supported by projects like Libreboot is unfortunately rather limited.

  • RentlarEnglish
    6•1 year ago

    Can’t get hacked by this if you never reboot!

  • @fosforus@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    UEFI is such a disaster. I still sometimes use legacy boot and notice that I miss none of the features UEFI gives me. And still I go for UEFI because it’s shiny and new. Guess I’m a disaster too.