The researcher's vendetta against Microsoft continues apace, but it seems like the company could be keeping up this time around
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As described by the author, ShieldBreak is essentially a continuation of the previously reported RoguePlanet vulnerability in Windows Defender's subsystems. Eclipse claims that Microsoft failed to properly patch RoguePlanet, and that ShieldBreak in theory bypasses the recently added protection.
The proof-of-concept code for the new exploit is supposed to bring up a super-elevated command prompt with SYSTEM privileges (higher than Administrator). The author claims the vulnerability is present in the "latest" versions of Windows 11 , Windows Server 2025, and Windows 10, though the proof-of-concept is limited to the former two operating systems.
Although researchers like Kevin Beaumont and Will Dormann say they've successfully reproduced the exploit , our informal testing in a Windows 11 virtual machine didn't yield any results. Said VM was just updated yesterday with the latest Windows 11 patches and currently sits at version 10.0. 26200.9168 . Given that Microsoft just published a giga-patch last Tuesday, there's a solid chance it plugged whichever hole ShieldBreak was getting through.
The sample screenshot in the ShieldBreak repository shows the exploit working under version 10.0. 26100.33296 , lending some credence to this theory. A sample size of one does not research make , so we advise caution and remind everyone to run their own testing before assuming the bug has truly been fixed.
Microsoft's bug-hunting nemesis extends vendetta with more zero-day attacks
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/microsofts-nemesis-drops-new-zero-day-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-attack-grants-system-level-privileges-but-it-could-already-be-patched#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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