CVE-2024-28925
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass Secure Boot protections on affected systems, potentially enabling them to load and execute unauthorized code during the boot process. It affects systems with Secure Boot enabled, primarily Windows devices. Attackers could gain persistence or install malware that survives reboots.
💻 Affected Systems
- Windows Secure Boot
📦 What is this software?
Windows 10 1507 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1507 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1607 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1607 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1809 by Microsoft
Windows 10 21h2 by Microsoft
Windows 10 22h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 21h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 22h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 23h2 by Microsoft
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with persistent malware that survives OS reinstallation, enabling long-term espionage, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Attackers install bootkits or rootkits that evade standard security software, maintain persistence, and steal credentials or sensitive data.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper patch management and monitoring; unauthorized boot modifications would be detected by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires physical access or administrative privileges to modify boot configuration. No public exploit code is currently available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: April 2024 security updates (KB5036893 for Windows 11, KB5036892 for Windows 10, etc.)
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-28925
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Apply April 2024 Windows security updates via Windows Update. 2. For enterprise environments, deploy updates through WSUS or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. 3. Restart systems to complete installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Secure Boot
allTemporarily disable Secure Boot in UEFI firmware settings to prevent exploitation, but this reduces security against other boot-level attacks.
Enable BitLocker with TPM
windowsEnable BitLocker with TPM protection to detect unauthorized boot modifications and prevent access to encrypted data.
manage-bde -on C: -usedpacealways
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict physical access to vulnerable systems and implement strict administrative privilege controls.
- Enable and monitor Secure Boot event logs for unauthorized changes using Windows Event IDs like 1035, 1036, or 1037.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Secure Boot is enabled via PowerShell: Confirm-SecureBootUEFI. If enabled and April 2024 updates are not installed, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"Verify Fix Applied:
Verify April 2024 updates are installed: Get-HotFix -Id KB5036893 (or relevant KB). Confirm Secure Boot remains enabled: Confirm-SecureBootUEFI returns True.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Windows Event Logs: Secure Boot policy changes (Event ID 1035-1037)
- UEFI firmware log entries showing boot order modifications
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections during boot process
- DNS queries to suspicious domains from early boot stages
SIEM Query:
EventID=1035 OR EventID=1036 OR EventID=1037 | where DeviceName contains "Secure Boot"