Solved Driverstore explorer, safe to delete old drivers?

antspants · Dec 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
Happy days

Wolfzz · Jan 17, 2025

DriverStore Explorer 0.11.114

GitHub - lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer: Driver Store Explorer

Driver Store Explorer. Contribute to lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Winuser · Jan 17, 2025

pseymour said:
In addition to what garlin said, there is also a case to be made for removing drivers you’re not using to reduce the risk of a BYOVD attack. I know, I know, home users never get attacked, but they do generally run as administrator, making it super easy for a nefarious person to load an old, vulnerable driver that is just sitting on the drive. If the driver were not there, you wouldn’t be vulnerable to it.

I know this was posted back in Dec. but this is the first time I read the whole thread. I never heard of BYOVD attack. How does the driver get infected or is this something that must be mistakenly downloaded? I just backed up all of my drivers on my two desktops to Onedrive and then deleted all but one of my old drivers using DriverStore Explorer. The one I didn't delete was one that I would have had to force delete. I left it alone because was listed as still running.

andrew129260 · Jan 17, 2025

Winuser said:
I know this was posted back in Dec. but this is the first time I read the whole thread. I never heard of BYOVD attack. How does the driver get infected or is this something that must be mistakenly downloaded? I just backed up all of my drivers on my two desktops to Onedrive and then deleted all but one of my old drivers using DriverStore Explorer. The one I didn't delete was one that I would have had to force delete. I left it alone because was listed as still running.

Not to just give you a link, but this explains it well.

What are BYOVD Attacks? - Cymulate

BYOVD (Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver) attacks exploit vulnerabilities in device drivers to compromise a system.

cymulate.com

You saw how crowdstrike wrecked things.......similar as to whats possible

hdmi · Jan 17, 2025

andrew129260 said:
Not to just give you a link, but this explains it well.

What are BYOVD Attacks? - Cymulate

BYOVD (Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver) attacks exploit vulnerabilities in device drivers to compromise a system.

cymulate.com

You saw how crowdstrike wrecked things.......similar as to whats possible

Forget BYOVD attacks. EDRSandBlast-GodFault bypasses Microsoft's vulnerable driver blocklist by, in lieu of attempting to exploit vulnerable drivers,, exploiting an admin-to-kernel vulnerability that AFAIK still hasn't been fixed yet. Forget vulnerable drivers - Admin is all you need — Elastic Security Labs

POC (Proof of Concept) :

GitHub - gabriellandau/EDRSandblast-GodFault: EDRSandblast-GodFault

EDRSandblast-GodFault. Contribute to gabriellandau/EDRSandblast-GodFault development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

andrew129260 · Jan 17, 2025

hdmi said:
Forget BYOVD attacks. EDRSandBlast-GodFault bypasses Microsoft's vulnerable driver blocklist by, in lieu of attempting to exploit vulnerable drivers,, exploiting an admin-to-kernel vulnerability that AFAIK still hasn't been fixed yet. Forget vulnerable drivers - Admin is all you need — Elastic Security Labs

POC (Proof of Concept) :

GitHub - gabriellandau/EDRSandblast-GodFault: EDRSandblast-GodFault

EDRSandblast-GodFault. Contribute to gabriellandau/EDRSandblast-GodFault development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

There's always something.....

thanks looks like a good read

Also, one of the avast antivirus drivers semi recently was used as a way to push malware and deploy it to devices.

Hackers abuse Avast anti-rootkit driver to disable defenses

A new malicious campaign is using a legitimate but old and vulnerable Avast Anti-Rootkit driver to evade detection and take control of the target system by disabling security components.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

hdmi · Jan 17, 2025

andrew129260 said:
There's always something.....

thanks looks like a good read

The short version of the story is that Windows Security is, and always has been, an oxymoron. It immediately helps to explain why nothing of what I do for work as an Enterprise Java software developer ever comes in contact with Windows.

andrew129260 · Jan 17, 2025

hdmi said:
The short version of the story is that Windows Security is, and always has been, an oxymoron. It immediately helps to explain why nothing of what I do for work as an Enterprise Java software developer ever comes in contact with Windows.

I personally believe considering how vast and compatible windows is, it's surprisingly decent security wise. Windows 11 ruffles a lot of feathers for some people already. I would like to see microsoft going further into this path, and start getting rid of really old legacy items so security can be better maintained and enforced. The older windows OS still exist for the companies needing it to control older needed equipment, but modern systems on the internet should have tighter restrictions.

Linux, Mac os, and chrome OS were built from the ground up to attempt to be secure, with security as the foundation. Windows never had that luxury.

Microsoft has made a lot of strides in security, but they have a long way to go.

I still personally believe most home users should be using any other operating system other than windows. I like chromebooks for the average user.

It is what it is.

hdmi · Jan 17, 2025

andrew129260 said:
I personally believe considering how vast and compatible windows is, it's surprisingly decent security wise. Windows 11 ruffles a lot of feathers for some people already. I would like to see microsoft going further into this path, and start getting rid of really old legacy items so security can be better maintained and enforced. The older windows OS still exist for the companies needing it to control older needed equipment, but modern systems on the internet should have tighter restrictions.

Linux, Mac os, and chrome OS were built from the ground up to attempt to be secure, with security as the foundation. Windows never had that luxury.

Microsoft has made a lot of strides in security, but they have a long way to go.

I still personally believe most home users should be using any other operating system other than windows. I like chromebooks for the average user.

It is what it is.

On Windows, security is like leaving the key under the doormat. The improvements are that duct tape was used to tape the doormat firmly to the floor of your porch. This makes it harder for the intruders to lift up the doormat. The reality is that you still need to keep standing with both feet on the doormat 24/7 if you want it to be safe. The only real reason why Windows Security has come a long way is because it used to be like this:

https://i.gifer.com/8XM.gif

Winuser · Jan 17, 2025

andrew129260 said:
There's always something.....

It's a damn shame they don't put their programming skills to good use instead of trying to RIP everyone off.

Wolfzz · Feb 6, 2025

DriverStore Explorer 0.12.4 Pre-Release

Add option to switch to use native Driver Store API.
Support export selected drivers.

Releases · lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer

Driver Store Explorer. Contribute to lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

PhilB · Feb 6, 2025

andrew129260 said:
I personally believe considering how vast and compatible windows is, it's surprisingly decent security wise. Windows 11 ruffles a lot of feathers for some people already. I would like to see microsoft going further into this path, and start getting rid of really old legacy items so security can be better maintained and enforced.

Which to me sounds like an argument to TPM being mandatory to upgrade to Win 11. Just saying.

andrew129260 said:
The older windows OS still exist for the companies needing it to control older needed equipment, but modern systems on the internet should have tighter restrictions.

Agreed.

andrew129260 said:
Linux, Mac os, and chrome OS were built from the ground up to attempt to be secure, with security as the foundation. Windows never had that luxury.

Microsoft has made a lot of strides in security, but they have a long way to go.

I still personally believe most home users should be using any other operating system other than windows. I like chromebooks for the average user.

Uuh. Have to dissent here. Some home users may be better served by a Chromebook. But not people like me, not by a very long shot.

andrew129260 said:
It is what it is.

Che sera, sera. (look it up ...)

andrew129260 · Feb 7, 2025

x509 said:
Which to me sounds like an argument to TPM being mandatory to upgrade to Win 11. Just saying.

Agreed.

Uuh. Have to dissent here. Some home users may be better served by a Chromebook. But not people like me, not by a very long shot.

Che sera, sera. (look it up ...)

TPM helps, but its not the bullet microsoft was hoping for.

In terms of the chromebook, Yeah I said most not all. Most people I know that need or use a computer at home use it for very extremely basic tasks.

PhilB · Feb 7, 2025

andrew129260 said:
TPM helps, but its not the bullet microsoft was hoping for.

Nothing ever is, not forever or even 10 years

andrew129260 said:
Most people I know that need or use a computer at home use it for very extremely basic tasks.

Not for me, and a lot of the guys I know. We're photographers, and need powerful image cataloging and editing software produced by Adobe.

hdmi · Feb 8, 2025

andrew129260 said:
TPM helps, but its not the bullet microsoft was hoping for.

As long as enough people continue to believe them when they continue to claim the opposite, they should still be good anyway nevertheless. And a lot of people will continue to believe them. A lot of people always do.

hdmi · Feb 8, 2025

x509 said:
Che sera, sera. (look it up ...)

kelper · Feb 8, 2025

@andrew129260

Chrome OS was not 'built from the ground up' as it is based on Gentoo Linux!
Likewise, Mac OS and iOS are based on Darwin, derived from BSD ,itself derived from Unix.

BeOS was totally original. I had it running a long time ago. It featured a spinning cube with a different video playing on each facet!

andrew129260 · Feb 8, 2025

kelper said:
Chrome OS was not 'built from the ground up' as it is based on Gentoo Linux!

It was based on linux yes, but its focus was to be improved in every way, with security being the number 1 goal.

It was designed with web apps in mind, and was built on knowledge of the internet at the time and how threats spread and executed on machines. Vs older operating systems born before the internet and patching the holes later. Linux was used as the base since security is a prime target of linux in general.

Everything in chrome os is sandboxed from each other.

Malware (besides bad browser extensions) is so rare on chrome os it's practically non existent.

x509 said:
Nothing ever is, not forever or even 10 years

too true.

kelper · Feb 8, 2025

andrew129260 said:
Malware (besides bad browser extensions) is so rare on chrome os it's practically non existent.

Yikes, does Chrome OS now have its own fanbois? It was once said that Apple computers could not get viruses.

andrew129260 · Feb 8, 2025

kelper said:
Yikes, does Chrome OS now have its own fanbois? It was once said that Apple computers could not get viruses.

I mean I am not gonna deny I like chromebooks, so technically yes I am a fan. But I also have not seen any mass problems with malware on the platform. Not a fanboy though, that's a little over the top ha.

If that changes, I would want to know but I could not find anything indicating it being an issue compared to other popular operating systems out there.

Solved Driverstore explorer, safe to delete old drivers?

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