Questions tagged [bios]
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is a software that is stored on a non-volatile ROM chip on the motherboard and BIOS is the first code run by a PC when powered on.
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Secure boot disabled for Potential BIOS compromise on Tails OS machine
I have an ASUS computer that I use strictly for booting Tails OS from a USB. A few weeks ago I went into the BIOS and noticed that secure boot was disabled.
This computer has secure boot enabled by ...
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Why is my TPM bugged? If I enable checks on PCR 8,9,10, it ALWAYS asks for decryption password even if it shouldn't [migrated]
I've also checked with systemd-analyze pcrs if PCRs are the same at every reboot, and they are.
Only at first reboot I don't know why the only PCRs that change are 8,9,10 lol(I don't know why)... but ...
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Why the TPM PCRs does not consider a UEFI settings change? If someone resets CMOS, it's undetected
In my laptop I've set up a bios password when I power on the laptop, and once I enter it the laptop starts my linux distro and decrypts the disk without asking any other password. To do this I've set ...
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What is the current risk regarding hyper-threading?
We are around four years after ZombieLoad.
We had multiple Microcode and OS mitigation patches.
Is enabling hyper-threading still bad practice if firmware, microcode and OS patches for your system are ...
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Can rootkit spread through ATA interface?
I have connected a hard disk containing bootable Windows to a system confirmed to have a rootkit and attached that disk to a couple of other systems through SATA. I'm wondering (It's kind of been ...
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Can BIOS/UEFI malware pretend that secure boot is enabled?
As the title says, can BIOS/UEFI malware pretend that secure boot is enabled? And if so, is there any point to enabling secure boot on a device that came with it disabled (or that you previously ...
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Security risks with 1vyrain BIOS ThinkPad jailbreak
In order to upgrade the wifi card of my W530 thinkpad I need to patch the original bios with 1vyrain. One effect of the patch should be that the whitelist for wifi-cards is removed.
What potential ...
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Would secure boot block GPU if it has modified vbios?
I think that AMD GPUs can be flashed with any modded VBIOS because the GPU doesn't check for firmware signature.
Shouldn't the secure boot be able to check signature of the AMD GPUs modded VBIOS and ...
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Use old computer to run outward facing VPN server
I need to install a computer in a remote location, so that a specific unique user can remotely connect to it via Wireguard VPN. Performance requirements are very low, but security requirements are ...
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What are the security implications of using an old computer with no more BIOS updates?
What are potential security implications of using older unsupported motherboards/laptops that do not get BIOS(UEFI) updates anymore, but run an up to date GNU/Linux distribution?
Do measures like ...
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Is there any security technology/technique beside tpm/secure boot which can verify the integrity of the bios or bootloader?
For any file on your OS you can get a md5 or sha256 value and if you suspect anything you get it again and compare. I was wondering if there is any way to do the same with the bios and bootloader and ...
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For someone who deals with dangerous files and websites frequently what is the way to avoid getting infected by spyware/virus permanently?
For someone who deals with dangerous files and websites frequently or even for the general user what is the way to avoid getting infected by spyware/virus permanently?
I am looking to buy a new laptop ...
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Seabios and secure boot. Coreboot payload
I'm choosing between Seabios and Tianocore as a coreboot payload.
Secure boot is a UEFI feature. I haven't found any mention of it in seabios documentation. It must be not supported.
Can anyone ...
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Detecting BIOS changes on PC
I've seen this question: Is it possible to determine if the BIOS has been modified between two points in time?
On my Linux PC, I've made a script that checks the MD5 hash of the boot partition to ...
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Isn't "BIOS reset password" a security flaw?
According to this article Dell Support can help a user to gain access to data after forgetting the HDD password:
Once Dell Support has provided the reset password, you enter this when prompted and ...
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Remotely disable a laptop's ability to power on or charge?
If I loan out laptops to my employees to work remotely, such as Dr's, Nurses and other healthcare workers that generate sensitive information on patients, how can I remotely disable the laptop's ...
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Ability of an infected UEFI bios to store data on computer
Suppose the UEFI BIOS is infected. The storage device is encrypted, there is no network access to the system, and RAM is encrypted. Is there any writable storage that an infected UEFI can write to ...
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Does secure boot protect you from infected BIOS/firmware?
About secure boot, I've visited intel's website and they said:
The feature defines an entirely new interface between operating system and firmware/BIOS. When enabled and fully configured, Secure Boot ...
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Compromising the UEFI recovery partition
I have a Windows 10 OS, drives are encrypted with the latest version.
UEFI is not encrypted, and I have recently installed a BIOS update.
I wonder about the possibility of a hacker (if secure boot is ...
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Can you subvert a physical system at runtime?
In case of a virtual machine it is possible to break out of the VM and gain code execution on the host. In that way you could evade any detection mechanism for malware inside the VM and maybe even on ...
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Can a virus infection spread from a PC to a PCB and back to a PC?
We have some equipment that is linked to PC's. These PC's acquire data from the equipment that they send to a server through an internal network. Furthermore these PC's are used to mediate ...
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Does a TPM chip simply replicate the BIOS function of checking platform integrity?
According to Wikipedia,
The primary scope of TPM is to assure the integrity of a platform. In this context, "integrity" means "behave as intended", and a "platform" is ...
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Could a workplace install a custom bios that gives them access to the system?
This might be the wrong place to ask this, and if so please point me in the right direction. Anyway, a family member works at a public institution where laptops are provided to the staff, which ...
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Restricting what hard drive can be used with a given machine
I have a machine running CentOS 7 with a removable hard drive. I want to restrict what hard drive can be used with the machine i.e. the machine can only be used with one disk and nothing else.
I've ...
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Is it safe to download BIOS firmware from any place online?
Considering that all modern motherboards have code signature procedures in place like it is mentioned here:
Is it possible for malware to be in the BIOS or in hardware?
I was wondering is it safe to ...
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(When) Is it a security concern if BIOS/UEFI uses/reserves much RAM?
BIOS, UEFI and hardware's firmware ROMs are not very comforting sources for concern. On a system that I administer, a large amount of main system memory (9 of 512GB) is unavailable.
Next to the ...
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Investigating HP sure start triggering security warnings
The following question belongs more to the HP forums but unfortunately I am not gaining any traction there. Please move the question to another SE if its off topic for this community.
Recently I've ...
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Can a BIOS password along with a HDD password prevent evil maid attacks?
By definition evil maid attacks involve altering a device in an undetectable way. So if I lock the BIOS, set the HDD to boot first and put a HDD password will this prevent it?
Access to the computer ...
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Is a BIOS password enough to prevent someone from hacking into my laptop if they have physical access?
Would my laptop be secure against physical access if I set up a bios password and full disk encryption ?
If not then is there any way to secure your laptop from someone with physical access?
How hard ...
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Can I trust a used motherboard purchased from a seller in China? [duplicate]
The ASUS motherboard in an older PC I own failed. I purchased a replacement from a vendor on eBay, shipped from China (Shenzhen). Only after receiving the motherboard did it occur to me to wonder ...
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How to detect software and hardware impairment? [closed]
How can I know if a pc has a backdoor in bios, and how to know if there is an hardware malicious impairment?
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Can BIOS virus/malware be used to steal data?
Since a BIOS isn't connected to the internet, even if your BIOS is infected with a malware (say you used a usb to flash it but with files that wasn't from the official motherboard manufacturer's site)...
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How can your BIOS be infected or hacked and Can a BIOS virus be used to "steal data"? [duplicate]
I know that BIOS can get virus but it's very rare, but it seems to me it's pretty impossible or improbable for a virus to creep into your BIOS via normal computer use.
Let's say I'm using windows 10, ...
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Is it (easily) possible to deactivate a TPM in order to update the BIOS?
My assumption is that a BIOS update, while having a TPM activated, would render the computer unusable so that I could trash it unless I can revert the changes to the BIOS.
1) Is it possible to ...
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Is it safe to disable SATA ports in the BIOS to isolate the corresponding hard drives from malware?
I have three SATA hard drives that I use every day. Suppose I disable the corresponding SATA ports of these hard drives through my BIOS, add another storage device to my PC, install another instance ...
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Access SATA disk disabled in BIOS
If a remote hacker or a malware gains full root/admin rights on a system, is there any way to access another SATA disk that has been hardware connected but disabled in BIOS ?
I am not sure if the ...
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Used laptop with potential BIOS/SSD firmware malware
I bought a used laptop and I'm concerned about the integrity of the firmware on the hardware and bios. I realize these types of malware are very rare.
1) My question is that if I assume that the BIOS ...
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Can you trust your computer devices to be safe to use if they have been in the hands of potential hackers? [duplicate]
Suppose you lose the bag containing your laptop along with its accessories or while travelling the police confiscate all your computer devices, can you safely use all the devices again if you format ...
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Can website exploit kits contain bootkits?
Can a website exploit kit theoretically contain a bootkit (it flashes your UEFI/BIOS)?
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Should i update the BIOS
I was reading about BIOS vulnerabilities and rootkits that have flashed malicious code to the BIOS in order to maintain access after a factory reset/operating system install or a hard drive ...
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BIOS password hash
Is it possible to find the BIOS password hash in a BIOS dump and decrypt it?
For instance, a person could use flashrom Live CD to dump the BIOS with flashrom -r but how would you find the BIOS ...
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BeagleBoneBlack, TPM and uBoot
I'm using BBB in my project. I need to prevent any changes to the software running on it. I've been reading about uBoot and TPM. But if I understand everything correctly, this can't be implemented ...
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Requiring hardware key at boot-up on normal laptop
I am sure that a question like this already exists and has probably been answered. I just couldn't find any results (probably due to my inability to word my question correctly).
We use laptops at ...
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Multi-Boot & BIOS Attack Vector Risks For Bitcoin Wallet Storage
I'm trying to emulate a cold storage computer for crypto assets with a multi-boot computer.
If I have multi-OS boots & the 'cold storage' boot is never connected to the internet when it is booted,...
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Can a virus destroy the BIOS of a modern computer?
In the late 1990s, a computer virus known as CIH began infecting some computers. Its payload, when triggered, overwrote system information and destroyed the computer's BIOS, essentially bricking ...
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Volatile memory only computer?
I was wondering, is it possible to create a fully volatile computer, with no permanent memory at all (not even in the BIOS), that will be loaded on each boot from a read only live CD?
Such that in ...
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badBIOS reflashing
This is not a has-badBIOS-pwn3d-me post, so don't worry about any paranoid rants.
Having read a thorough analysis/debunking of the alleged evilware, I certainly understand that the technology badBIOS ...
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What bios passwords & settings are important to set on a Thinkpad X1 laptop?
I am just booting my new X1 for the first time, and went into the bios to set a bios password. I discovered a slew of security settings:
Supervisor password
Lock UEFI BIOS Settings (enabled/disabled)
...
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using sha256 to check for boot tampering
Consider the following machine:
Dual Boots to two OSes, OS "A" and OS "B"
OS "A" is trusted
The bios is trusted.
The root partition of OS "A" is encrypted
OS "A" doesn't support secure boot
OS "B" is ...
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How could malware survive hard disk drive format without residing in the firmware?
For example could it "trick" most partitioning/disk utility tools that it was successfully wiped, but with the malware still existing? Kinda similar to what would happen if you attempted to "clean" ...
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