Researcher Drops YellowKey, GreenPlasma Windows Zero-Days

A disgruntled security researcher this week publicly disclosed two zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows that enable BitLocker bypass and privilege escalation.

BitLocker, Windows’ built-in full-volume encryption feature, relies on TPM (Trusted Platform Module) to deliver hardware-based security, protecting users’ data from unauthorized access if the device is stolen or lost.

On Tuesday, a cybersecurity researcher known as Chaotic Eclipse and Nightmare Eclipse published proof-of-concept (PoC) code that allows an attacker with physical access to a machine running Windows 11 to bypass BitLocker and gain unrestricted access to the storage volume. The exploit has been dubbed YellowKey.

This is not the first time Chaotic Eclipse has disclosed unpatched vulnerabilities in Microsoft products, and the researcher previously suggested they are displeased with the tech giant’s handling of vulnerability reports.

According to the researcher, the underlying issue for YellowKey is a well-hidden vulnerability without an explicit root cause, and could be a backdoor ...