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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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is it common practice to have a web browser or media player running with elevated permissions? seems like a strange thing to do...
I may be wrong, but does it mean that if someone is able to modify my uefi - they would be able to inject virus in booting image?
On Linux/Mac you have no use sudo. For sudo you need a password.
This thing will make it very easy to make a rubber ducky though.
damn 😱
Don't panic!
Is this potentially useful to me? Since it is persistent, can I use it on this motherboard I have over here that insists on using UEFI even if I do not want to?
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Hundreds of Windows and Linux computer models from virtually all hardware makers are vulnerable to a new attack that executes malicious firmware early in the boot-up sequence, a feat that allows infections that are nearly impossible to detect or remove using current defense mechanisms.
The attack—dubbed LogoFAIL by the researchers who devised it—is notable for the relative ease in carrying it out, the breadth of both consumer- and enterprise-grade models that are susceptible, and the high level of control it gains over them.
LogoFAIL is a constellation of two dozen newly discovered vulnerabilities that have lurked for years, if not decades, in Unified Extensible Firmware Interfaces responsible for booting modern devices that run Windows or Linux.
The participating companies comprise nearly the entirety of the x64 and ARM CPU ecosystem, starting with UEFI suppliers AMI, Insyde, and Phoenix (sometimes still called IBVs or independent BIOS vendors); device manufacturers such as Lenovo, Dell, and HP; and the makers of the CPUs that go inside the devices, usually Intel, AMD or designers of ARM CPUs.
As its name suggests, LogoFAIL involves logos, specifically those of the hardware seller that are displayed on the device screen early in the boot process, while the UEFI is still running.
LogoFAIL is a newly discovered set of high-impact security vulnerabilities affecting different image parsing libraries used in the system firmware by various vendors during the device boot process.
The original article contains 663 words, the summary contains 232 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
So I don't get it, I have my entire boot image in a signed EFI binary, the logo is in there as well. I don't think I'm susceptible to this, right? I don't think systemd-boot or the kernel reads an unsigned logo file anywhere. (Using secure boot)
I actually am in the market for a new mobo and cpu.
Are there any mobo's nowdays that don't use UEFI? I just want an old traditional style BIOS with a jumper to restore it from a ROM chip if I get any malware, so I can actually trust my hardware.
I did force myself to deal with UEFI for the sake of windows, but gaming has gotten good enough on Linux, I don't actually need to dual boot windows anymore.
Am I asking too much?
No, and trying to use a pure BIOS system these days is a headache.
You can always just reflash your firmware from a trusted OS via FWUPD.