192

An attacker with physical access can abruptly restart the device and dump RAM, as analysis of this memory may reveal FVEK keys from recently running Windows instances, compromising data encryption.

The effectiveness of this attack is, however, limited because the data stored in RAM degrades rapidly after the power is cut off.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

A lot of BitLocker setups unlock using just TPM though, which was my point. No password/PIN needs to be entered at boot time to unlock it, it uses the TPM to unlock. This is the default setup that many companies use. Password/PIN unlock is completely optional.

I'm not misreading that.

[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 1 points 1 day ago

Not the default at any company I've been at. What's the point of encryption if it's unlocked right away? Whoever's doing that deserves this exploit. However, since that's factually correct I'll edit my original comment to add in:

unless you use a TPM with no pin/password, which is dumb

Exactly.

I don't use BitLocker, but I do use FDE on Linux, and I use a password at the bootloader level. Why would I bother with all the downsides of FDE if it isn't actually secured by a password?

[-] Railcar8095@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

If the computer doesn't password protection and the attacker has physical access... They can just copy the data, why care about the keys?

I think that's already a worst case scenario.

[-] narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

The user still has to login to their user account. The assumption is that the Windows login is secure so BitLocker can decrypt using TPM and an attacker still won't have access to the data without being able to log in.

This article obviously shows a method how an attacker can potentially still get access to the data without logging in.

this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2025
192 points (99.5% liked)

Cybersecurity

5916 readers
150 users here now

c/cybersecurity is a community centered on the cybersecurity and information security profession. You can come here to discuss news, post something interesting, or just chat with others.

THE RULES

Instance Rules

Community Rules

If you ask someone to hack your "friends" socials you're just going to get banned so don't do that.

Learn about hacking

Hack the Box

Try Hack Me

Pico Capture the flag

Other security-related communities !databreaches@lemmy.zip !netsec@lemmy.world !securitynews@infosec.pub !cybersecurity@infosec.pub !pulse_of_truth@infosec.pub

Notable mention to !cybersecuritymemes@lemmy.world

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS