Microsoft has confirmed that a portion of its Windows 10 source code has leaked online, raising serious security concerns for the OS. The leaked files reportedly relate to USB, storage, and Wi-Fi drivers in Windows 10.
Last week, a significant chunk of source code for Windows 10 was posted to a repository called BetaArchive. Microsoft has confirmed the leak with the following statement:
Our review confirms that these files are actually a portion of the source code from the Shared Source Initiative and is used by OEMs and partners.
According to The Register, the leak contains source code to the base Windows 10 hardware drivers, plus Redmond’s PnP code, USB and Wi-Fi stacks, storage drivers and ARM-specific OneCore kernel code. This is more than enough information for hackers to sniff out vulnerabilities within the operating system.
This sounds ominous, but the fact that Microsoft has not forced BetaArchive administrators to remove the code suggests that it may not be that serious.
Beta Archive has voluntarily begun removing non-public portions of the code.
“We have removed it from our FTP and listings pending further review just in case we missed something in our initial release”, it said. “We currently have no plans to restore it until a full review of its contents is carried out and it is deemed acceptable under our rules.”
We’ll be updating this story as soon as we have more information.
[Via The Register]
Comments