Secure Boot Isn't So Secure After All: The Golden Key Is Out

[nomadewolf]

Well when secureboot first came out it was accused of being some giant conspiracy to stop PCs from ever running Linux.
5 years later and dozens of easy successful Linux installs later [long before this hack was announced], that was obviously wrong.

As for preventing boot-level malware, well the vast majority of malware has no need to ever get that low-level in the first place, so we're not really any less secure in the real-world than before secureboot showed up.

In other news, I'd greatly like to see secureboot put onto every Android device in existence. I'd like the so-called "open" Android platform to be just as locked down as all those evil Microsoft PCs so I can actually put a real Linux distribution on it just like the supposedly "locked down" PCs.

Either secure boot brings more security, or it was in fact designed to lock Linux away.
Since even you recognise that the benefits in the security area are negligible...
And all the sucessfull Linux installs only prove on thing: the community was able to find and excellent solution to work around the problem!
If we look at the secure boot specifications we can easily see the intent:
.MS controls everything
.We pay MS to boot Linux
.Vague specifications about interface or mechanisms to disable/bypass this system
.Little security added
.And now, the master key is on the wild... which everyone knew it could happen

Just my two cents.

[rubdos]

Now that this key is out, the Surface RT is now a pretty awesome bit of kit and I probably would have bought one new.

Microsoft are retarded for locking down Windows RT.

Was thinking the same. Are there ARM/RT ThinkPads? Sounds like something cheap and durable for the better GNU/Linux work...

[kpedersen]

Now that this key is out, the Surface RT is now a pretty awesome bit of kit and I probably would have bought one new.

Microsoft are retarded for locking down Windows RT.

[droidhacker]

I'm not contradicting anything. I'm pointing out that the supposedly evil secureboot that was supposedly a giant conspiracy to prevent Linux from ever being installed on new hardware didn't actually stop Linux from being installed on new hardware. And that freedom to install Linux had nothing to do with this hack* either.

So... you're trying to be sarcastic? News for you: sarcasm doesn't work over the internet, because nobody can see your intonation and facial expression.

Meanwhile, I'd love to kick out the bloated locked-down Android installation that's on my phone but I can't do it. And no, even "rooting" a phone in an unreliable manner to slap on another Android image isn't good enough just like having to hack and "root" a Windows PC to go from Windows 10.1 to some other minor variant of Windows wouldn't exactly make that an open platform either.

How unreliable is it to run "fastboot oem unlock" or "fastboot flashing unlock" (new form)?
Oh right, you have a locked out SAMSUCK. Why would you even BUY a SAMSUCK? Its not as if there aren't a billion websites telling you that they're crippled crap with bloat.
Buy a GOOD phone, unlock the bloody thing, and build a boot image from AOSP source with TWO patches and ONE extra file;
(1) System core patch: https://github.com/seSuperuser/AOSP-...tem_core.patch
(2) sepolicy patch: https://github.com/seSuperuser/AOSP-...sepolicy.patch
(3) "su" binary located at /sbin/ built from: https://github.com/seSuperuser/Super...peruser/jni/su

Then you install superuser application as any other application, either built from source (same repository as the su source) or from play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...uperuser&hl=en

So do tell me... where are the "hacks"? Where is the "unreliability"?

[droidhacker]

And now for the serious part of this message. That linked site is terrible. It's really hard to read the whole thing when it's constantly moving. I get sick when trying to read in a moving car and the experience there was similar. Also, I'm glad modern browsers allow muting specific tabs.

I had to scratch my head for a minute on that one, website looked perfectly ok, no trippyness, just a bunch of text, the way the internet was meant to be.
Then I noticed the unobtrusive blue bar at the bottom of the screen... oh right, "Scripts Currently Forbidden".

Seriously dude, you need to use noscript plugin. It makes the internet a WAY happier place.

[RealNC]

It sends memories to the old "demoscene" and my guess is that it's what it is supposed to be.

Actually it references the cracking scene. Cracked games had a "cracktro" like this one.

[jinnai]

How can something be secure if something called "The golden key" even exists

[M@yeulC]

For us, this is really a non-problem. Unless you can't replace or disable the Microsoft key in the UEFI menu, or were using one of these Microsoft-issued keys.
You can still install your own trust chain if you could, and it won't be altered.

That said, it opens a whole new world of custom OS installations on some of the most locked down Microsoft products (phone and RT).
I would be interested in knowing whether the Xbox one is affected or not. This could get really interesting.

[starshipeleven]

Btw, This is great news for running custom roms on Windows Phones.

[starshipeleven]

Well when secureboot first came out it was accused of being some giant conspiracy to stop PCs from ever running Linux.
5 years later and dozens of easy successful Linux installs later [long before this hack was announced], that was obviously wrong.

Back then Secure Boot was an issue for both camps, as most UEFI firmwares weren't (many still aren't) able to turn it off without a firmware upgrade first to a later version, so whatever was new had to stay locked to Windows for a year or so.
Many many UEFI don't accept custom keys, so you can only disable it alltogether.

THat said, yes, it clearly was a way to get more control over what could run in UEFI systems, why does MS have the master key? Because they were the ones you had to pass through to get "official" keys

As for preventing boot-level malware, well the vast majority of malware has no need to ever get that low-level in the first place, so we're not really any less secure in the real-world than before secureboot showed up.

Nah, we had malware in MBR area on HDDs, but they won't touch UEFI boot process because they like fair play.

In other news, I'd greatly like to see secureboot put onto every Android device in existence. I'd like the so-called "open" Android platform to be just as locked down as all those evil Microsoft PCs so I can actually put a real Linux distribution on it just like the supposedly "locked down" PCs.

Secure Boot should have been like the one on Android (or embedded anyway) if it was for Microsoft. Point is, OEMs and hardware manufacturers weren't that OK with it so it never went like that.