this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
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YellowKey reportedly works in Windows 11, Windows Server 2022 and 2025, but not in Windows 10.

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[–] Reygle@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Microslop can't even claim incompetence. The way this reads, the function is intended as a back door.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Why do they call it "drive encryption" when it does not need a user-provided password or other key?

[–] mlg@lemmy.world 5 points 18 hours ago

TPM microslop magic.

What's even funnier is that we already have TCG, ISE, and SE drives that hardware encrypt AES256 by design, so you still get at least an instant delete option if you never bother to set a key.

Windows wants to double screw you over by never telling you it added a key, and then leaving you dead in the water if your TPM breaks, and then also failing to maintain their own TPM requirements making it completely useless lol.

[–] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 5 points 23 hours ago

Anything that isn't open source can't be secure. That doesn't mean that everything open source is secure though.

[–] Cornballer@lemmy.zip 35 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Somebody on twitter “reverse engineered” the exploit. Apparently ms shipped debug code in production. At least it’s not called Backdoor_FBI outright.

How it works:

  1. Recovery tools look for a config file called RecoverySimulation.ini on the OS drive
  2. If Active=Yes, it enables "test mode" for the recovery tools
  3. Test mode unlocks your BitLocker drive but a flag called FailRelock tells it to skip relocking
  4. cmd.exe spawns with full access to your "encrypted" drive
[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Does test mode unlock without the key?!? So it's just "encrypted" with a generic key, and the unlock key is for authentication? That sounds insane, even for microsoft.

[–] mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

this works because the bitlocker key is stored in the TPM of the mainboard on the computer.
That is neccessary for the computer to be able to boot without entering your bitlocker password. you can configure it differently, but that is not default or super obvious to do.

[–] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It always struck me as...poor...to not require a password for decryption. If you require zero knowlege from me, that means the device you stole has everything inside needed to decrypt it.

And well, lookie there at the article!

[–] jabberwock@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 day ago

"Ah yes, but think about how much faster they shipped that code with Copilot doing all the heavy lifting."

  • Some Microsoft exec, probably
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[–] SleeplessCityLights@programming.dev 24 points 1 day ago (6 children)

BitLocker is basically malware, so who fucking cares. Far more people have it accidentally on and get locked out than people that have purposefully activated it.

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

You have just reminded me I could use this on the laptop my mother set up like five years ago and immediately forgot the password for.

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[–] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

Finally, some good news. Now I can stop having to interact with my companies shitty outsourced service desk when I need a Bitlocker key.

[–] 87Six@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 day ago

Closed source security mechanism has backdoor

More news at 9

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Bitlocker is Temu encryption

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[–] BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (5 children)

There was a reason for disappearance of TrueCrypt

[–] m0stlyharmless@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

TrueCrypt was forked into VeraCrypt, which is still maintained.

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[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

of course there's a back door. You motherfuckers think they'll TPM secure boot lock file manage SECURTYYYY and not let five eyes waltz in whenever they fucking well please?

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 146 points 2 days ago (1 children)

YellowKey can be triggered simply by merely copying some files to a USB stick and rebooting to the Windows Recovery Environment. We tested this ourselves, and sure enough, not only does it work, it bears all the hallmarks of a backdoor, down to the exploit's files disappearing from the USB stick after it's used once.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 30 points 2 days ago (3 children)

100% certainty of backdoor. Is bitlocker developed outside of MSFT? Would seem to need MSFT cooperation to implement.

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[–] gnufuu@infosec.pub 118 points 2 days ago (4 children)

From their blog:

Now regarding YellowKey, lots of you are wondering how does one even find such backdoor ?

I'll tell you how, it took me more time trying to get it to work than the amount of sleep I had in two years combined. No AI involved, no help in any shape or form. I could have made some insane cash selling this but no amount of money will stand between me and my determination against Microsoft.

[...]

I can't wait when I will be allowed to disclose the full story, I think people will find my crashout very reasonable and it definitely won't be a good look for Microsoft.

Looking forward to the full story.

[–] Jako302@feddit.org 73 points 2 days ago

I could have made some insane cash selling this but no amount of money will stand between me and my determination against Microsoft.

There is no better motivator than pure anger and spite.

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[–] Sgt_choke_n_stroke@lemmy.world 53 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I lost 3 years of work and my research dissertation because of bitlocker. Fuck you microslop, now I do everything on Linux because of your security garbage

[–] Thorry@feddit.org 67 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (12 children)

Not to be that guy, but that's 100% on you for not having backups of important work. It's 3 years and your fucking research dissertation, how the fuck do you keep that all in one place?

This time you got fucked by Microsoft for having shit software. But it could have been your hardware that exploded, your house catching fire, your shit being stolen, you downloading malware from that one site you told your girlfriend you'd never visit again, shitty infrastructure causing power issues or flooding, you yourself having a nervous breakdown and nuking the thing.

Keep everything important at least in three places, one of which should be in a physically different (remote) place. Backup often, keep to the schedule and test your backups.

Jeez man, using Microsoft software and not having backups is like walking around with a loaded gun pointed at your dick. It's all well and good till you get your dick blown off.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 25 points 2 days ago (9 children)

In the immortal words of Daniel Rutter (again): If nothing else, backups are necessary because at some point in your life you will confidently instruct your computer to destroy your data.

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[–] yesman@lemmy.world 64 points 2 days ago

They also state the vulnerability is well-hidden, and that they "could have made some insane cash selling this, but no amount of money will stand between me and my determination against Microsoft."

based.

[–] toiletobserver@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago (1 children)

JuSt MaKe A sEcUrE bAcKdOoR

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[–] Bazoogle@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Lmao, remember when Microsoft wouldn't make a backdoor for the US government? https://mashable.com/archive/fbi-microsoft-bitlocker-backdoor

I wonder what favor the government traded for this. Or maybe what threats were made to Microsoft...

[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Gee wiz Mr Gates, that's a nice monopoly you've got there. It sure would be a shame, if that anti-trust lawsuit the AG is researching were to happen to it...

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[–] portuga@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Picture got me confused. Do you use a usb stick or a hammer?

[–] TeddE@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago
[–] whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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[–] thedormantotaku@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

I guess LUKS is safe.

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