Computers have various built-in elements that seek to enhance user security in the face of growing threats. Among these elements is the BIOS, which includes a series of elements and protocols such as Secure Boot. This function, responsible for detect malwarehas been disabled from MSI on nearly 300 motherboards.
You’ve probably never heard of Secure Boot, and that’s okay. We are talking about a security function whose mission is to prevent the execution of malicious software. In other words, it guarantees that any program we use on our computer has a valid signature, which “guarantees” that we can use it without risk.
A critical feature disabled after an update
Inside a computer there many elements What are they looking for protect us against software that can damage our equipment or steal our data. Although it is thought that antivirus is enough, the reality is that it is not. The BIOS is just one of the things we seek to “take care of”. Windows itself and even browsers usually include background elements that try to protect us from harm.
MSI recently launched a Firmware update for their motherboards, something quite common. The problem occurs when it is detected that the Secure boot function turns out to be disabled natively. A characteristic Always active on any computer and should never be “turned off”.
Removing this protection means you can run software with elements malicious. This software can disable our system with a virus, encrypt data and make it unrecoverable and even steal personal data or banking credentials.
Who discovered it is Dawid Potocki, a Polish security researcher. According to investigatorafter discovering the problem, he immediately contacted contact MSI, without answer some. Potocki believes that MSI has not fixed the problem yet security and which affects a large number of motherboards for Intel and AMD processors.
List of affected motherboards
The researcher details all the motherboards that would be affected by this vulnerability. These motherboards are:
- AMD:
- All X670(E) motherboards
- All B650(E) motherboards
- X570:
- MEG X570S ACE MAX
- MEG X570S UNIFY-X MAX
- MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI / MPG X570S CARBON EK X
- B550:
- B550 GAMING GEN3
- MAG B550 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI
- PRO B550M-P GEN3
- PRO B550-P GEN3
- PRO B550-VC
- Intel:
- All Z790 motherboards
- All B760 motherboards
- Z590:
- B660:
- MORTAR MAG B660M MAX WIFI DDR4
- PRO B660M-A CEC WIFI DDR4 V2
- H610:
- PRO H610M 12VO
- PRO H610M VDHP DDR4
- PRO H610M-E DDR4
- H410:
How do I check if I’m affected and how do I fix it?
To find out exactly, you have to access the BIOS. Usually, MSI uses the “DEL” key to access it. We must press it on our keyboard after pressing the computer’s power button and in this way we will enter the BIOS.
Once inside we must follow these steps:
- We go to the Security option
- Now let’s move on to secure boot
- Inside we will see the Image Execution Policy option and enter
- We should see the “Option ROM” option which should appear as “Always run”
If it didn’t appear as always running, we would be affected by the error. The option, if you leave us, is to reactivate this manual function. In case of refusal, we will have to wait for a firmware update that fixes the error.
Everything indicates that we should soon see an update from MSI that fixes the problem. But, without a doubt, it’s an important package from the company.
