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MSFT Silently Kills Backdoor that Allowed Booting Linux on Windows RT Tablets

Accepted submission by -- OriginalOwner_ http://tinyurl.com/OriginalOwner at 2016-07-16 11:35:43
OS

-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

from the white-hats-exploiting-security-holes dept.

El Reg reports [theregister.co.uk]

MS16-094 [microsoft.com], released this week, [...] closes a backdoor left in Windows RT [which] can be exploited to unlock the slab's bootloader and start up an operating system of your choice, such as GNU/Linux or Android, provided it supports the underlying hardware.

[...]Windows RT is essentially Windows 8.x ported to devices powered by 32-bit ARMv7-compatible processors. It is a dead-end operating system, though: Microsoft has stopped developing it, and mainstream support for Surface RT tabs runs out in 2017 and Windows RT 8.1 in 2018. This is why a means to bypass its boot mechanisms is highly sought.

Original Submission