Bugtraq mailing list archives
Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor
From: "Stefan Kanthak" <stefan.kanthak () nexgo de>
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 19:33:43 +0200
"Kevin Beaumont" <kevin.beaumont () gmail com> wrote: [...]
Microsoft documented a feature in Windows 8 and above called Windows Platform Binary Table.
Cf. <http://www.acpi.info/links.htm> where WPBT is linked to <http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=234840> alias <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/windows/hardware/dn550976>
Up until two days ago, this was a single Word document not referenced elsewhere on Google:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:H-SSYRAB0usJ:download.microsoft.com/download/8/A/2/8A2FB72D-9B96-4E2D-A559-4A27CF905A80/windows-platform-binary-table.docx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
This feature allows a BIOS to deliver the payload of an executable, which is run in memory, silently, each time a system is booted. The executable code is run under under Session Manager context (i.e. SYSTEM).
This sort of feature is NOT new: with Windows 2003 Microsoft introduced the loading of "virtual OEM device drivers" during Windows setup, see <https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/896453> AFAIK at least HP and Dell used this method to deploy [F6] drivers embedded in their BIOS. [...] stay tuned Stefan Kanthak
Current thread:
- Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Kevin Beaumont (Aug 12)
- RE: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Limanovski, Dimitri (Aug 13)
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Kevin Beaumont (Aug 16)
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Jerome Athias (Aug 13)
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Kevin Beaumont (Aug 16)
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Stefan Kanthak (Aug 13)
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Kevin Beaumont (Aug 16)
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Pedro Ribeiro (Aug 17)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor simon (Aug 17)
- RE: Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) - BIOS PE backdoor Limanovski, Dimitri (Aug 13)