Another (DRM scheme) Bites the Dust
Posted by Ray @ 11:32 amThis time, it’s Windows Vista’s DRM scheme.
The hack allows a user to bypass Windows Vista’s Protected Media Path, allowing premium content to play. Quote:
The great thing about the code I’ve written is that it does NOT use test signing mode and it does NOT load an unsigned driver into the system. Therefore, to any A/V application running, the system seems totally safe — when in fact, it’s not. Now, because I’m still booting with a special flag, it’s possible for Microsoft to patch the PMP and have it report that this flag is set, thereby disabling premium content. However, beause I already have kernel-mode code running at this point, I can disable this flag in memory, and PMP will never know that it was enabled. Again, Microsoft could fight this by caching the value, or obfuscating it somewhere inside PMP’s kernel-mode code, but as long as it’s in kernel-mode, and I’ve got code in kernel-mode, I can patch it.
The creator, Alex Ionescu, does not want to release the code for fear of lawsuit. So it’s hard to verify what he’s done. But if it really works, expect somebody else to duplicate the feat soon.
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