Zero-day exploit completely defeats default Windows 11 BitLocker protections

A zero-day exploit circulating online allows people with physical access to a Windows 11 system to bypass default BitLocker protections and gain complete access to an encrypted drive within seconds.

The exploit, named YellowKey, was published earlier this week by a researcher who goes by the alias Nightmare-Eclipse. It reliably bypasses default Windows 11 deployments of BitLocker, the full-volume encryption protection Microsoft provides to make disk contents off-limits to anyone without the decryption key, which is stored in a secured piece of hardware known as a trusted platform module (TPM). BitLocker is a mandatory protection for many organizations, including those that contract with governments.

When one disk volume manipulates another

The core of the YellowKey exploit is a custom-made FsTx folder. Online documentation of this folder is hard to find. As explained later, the directory associated with the file fstx.dll appears to involve what Microsoft calls the transactional NTFS, which allows developers to have “transactional atomicity" for file operations in transactions with a single file, multiple files, or ones that span multiple sources.

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How to enable LUKS disk encryption with keyfile on Linux

We can easily add a key file to LUKS disk encryption on Linux when running the cryptsetup command. A key file is used as the passphrase to unlock an encrypted volume. The passphrase allows Linux users to open encrypted disks utilizing a keyboard or over an ssh-based session. There are different types of key files we can add and enable LUKS disk encryption on Linux as per our needs:

1. Passphrase keyfile - It is a key file holding a simple passphrase.
2. Random text keyfile - This is a key file comprising a block of random characters which is much more resistant to dictionary attacks than a simple passphrase-based key file.
3. Binary keyfile - We can defile an image, video, or any other static binary file as key file for LUKS. It makes it harder to identify as a key file. It would look like a regular image file or video clip to the attacker instead of a random text keyfile.

Let us see how to enable LUKS disk encryption with a key file.

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How to unlock LUKS using Dropbear SSH keys remotely in Linux

On Linux, we encrypt our partitions and entire disk using Linux Unified Key Setup-on-disk-format (LUKS) for security and privacy reasons. We unlock LUKS protected disk by providing a passphrase at boot time. You need to be in front of your computer or use a remote console to open the encrypted disk under Linux at boot time. However, if your system is in the basement, remote datacenter/office, or upstairs office, you won't able to unlock and boot your Linux box. We can use the Dropbear SSH server for LUKS encrypted Debian or Ubuntu or any other Linux distro via SSH to solve this problem. Let us see how to unlock LUKS using Dropbear SSH keys in Linux at boot time.

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How to change LUKS disk encryption passphrase in Linux

We use encryption to protect mobile devices. For instance, I always use LUKS disk encryption to protect all files stored on my SSD. Dm-crypt (Cryptsetup and LUKS) open-source disk encryption is transparent disk encryption and a great way to keep your data secure. However, changing passphrase is a bit of a challenge for new Linux users and developers. This step-by-step guide explains how to find LUKS slots assigned to you and change your passphrase on a Debian/Ubuntu, CentOS/RHEL, OpenSUSE/SUSE other Linux distros.

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How to backup and restore LUKS header on Linux

Previously I explained how to encrypt Linux partitions or disk with the LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup)/dm-crypt. In this quick blog post, I will explain how to backup and restore LUKS header for emergency purposes. Backup is useful for recovering from misconfigurations, corrupted headers or forgotten passphrase or unknown password.

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