The manager who approved this need to be fired. Programs need to ask permission to the user before installing, especially when they’re not device drivers.
This is literal malware and there’s also a chance that it might be exploited (example: a mitm Attack exchanges the file that armory crate is downloading)
This kind of Easter egg is not funny at all, developers must avoid undocumented time bombs. I still remember that day 15 years ago when I turned on my Wii and it said that the system files were corrupted. After hours of reverting a full nand backup via bootmii (and losing 2 years of game saves) it turned out that it was a funny April’s fool by crediar, which put a fake system corruption message when you run his program on April 1st. Problem is that his program was a loader for the system menu so it was unavoidable if you didn’t know that.
Like me, there must be someone paranoid that saw that black bar on the screen, saw a weird Christmas.exe running on their system, and starting wiping or restoring old images to “clean” that.
When you turn on your PC and notice that there’s a huge Christmas banner on your desktop, do not panic – your device is not compromised.
Hah, well a vendor just pushed unapproved executable to the device and ran it without consent. Under any definition or other context it’s definitely compromised.
This is why I boycott Logitech, they started pushing the Logitech Download Assistant through Windows Update as soon as you connect a Logitech mouse/keyboard.
It autoruns not only when it is first installed but on every startup.
It is rather annoying to try and uninstall it, I don’t get why there has been so little backlash against this…
Microsoft permitting this is devaluing Windows Update, the driver (.inf) should be installed automatically, any executable file that WU wants to download and run on your computer should just bring up a small Windows notification saying something like this:
The device you just installed requests to download and run the following program from Windows Update:
Logitech Download Assistant
Will you approve or reject this request? Approve/Reject
It is just terrible that this is permitted
It’s almost as if the PC doesn’t belong to you anymore
I never knew about this (using Linux) but when I plugged my mouse onto a friend’s laptop and suddenly a big banner animated onscreen, my heart sank lol. No idea how this works but it was pretty unexpected.
I try not to be too Linux fanboish these days, but what in the ever loving fuck is that about? Windows sounds like it’s reverted to 90s/early 2000s novelty crap and browser toolbars.
I get this request sometimes on my work machine. Guess what? I don’t even have the rights to install it. Insanity
This is why I boycott Logitech
You should boycott Microsoft instead. As you say, they’re the ones permitting it.
I would if I could, but I work with Windows and if I migrate to Linux at home, my skills in Windows would dimminish
Wouldn’t your skills be kept sharp by using it at work?
It doesn’t work like that for me I am afraid.
“skills in windows” is a hilarious thing to type. Merry Christmas.
Sigh, why, why do you do feel the need to put other’s down over something as irrelevant as an operating system?
But since Windows require zero skills, then even you may stand a chance to solve the following tasks that I have had to deal with within Windows.
- List all users in the local admin group of all workstations, if a group is part of the local admin group, expand it and list individual users, oh and some users/groups are still on an old domain.
- Whitelist a new USB device in GPO.
- Make a report of all computers in the organization, get the current system model number, memory, storage space, free storage space, check weather or not the computer is ready for Windows 11, sort the list by department and primary user.
These weirdos have Linux as their entire identity and it’s become all consuming for some of them.
I just block anyone who is shilling Linux too much as it gets boring quickly, and I use Linux myself as of recently but it isn’t all that amazing and it requires a good amount of configuration, contrary to what people on here will tell you.
Linux is amazing, I use it regularly for diferent projects.
I even dailied Ubuntu 15 years ago, but then switched back to Windows for gaming and work.
Removed by mod
How likely are any of those at home?
Powershell is very useful to use at home, maybe not in those exact tasks, but it is a Windows skill.
Work a help desk shift supporting windows users and see if you still say that.
im guessing you use arch btw
It sucks because I’ve always liked Logitech hardware. Though I suppose you don’t need to run the software suite (or if you’re on Linux it isn’t an option anyway).
Cannot confirm, I have a g903, paired mouse pad, and their brio webcam. I only have the G Hub, which I installed manually. Maybe they stopped this behavior?
It won’t be listed under programs and features, here you have more info:
https://www.tenforums.com/software-apps/147661-how-remove-logitech-download-assistant.html
Yeah, I have neither the mentioned files in sys32 or the entry in dev mgr. This might be discontinued?
I had windows update try to brick the BIOS on my Lenovo workstation recently. I can’t believe Microsoft and manufacturers do this kind of shit. Luckily my workstation had dual BIOS so I could recover it. Between that and the fact that lenovo manufacturer locks their processors I would have waited until I could afford a supermicro had I known.
Welp, seems ASUS motherboards also push this by default: https://www.techpowerup.com/248827/asus-z390-motherboards-automatically-push-software-into-your-windows-installation
During testing for our Intel Core i9-9900K review we found out that new ASUS Z390 motherboards automatically install software and drivers to your Windows 10 System, without the need for network access, and without any user knowledge or confirmation. This process happens in complete network-isolation (i.e. the machine has no Internet or LAN access).
This is how cheats are installed on LAN competitions
Holy shit. I got Logitech peripherals, and an ASUS motherboard. I’m glad I’m on Linux. I still have Windows installed, and booted into it around 2 weeks ago, after it having lied dormant for four months. I didn’t notice anything being installed, but maybe I had to reboot first.
Quite possibly, my peripherals and motherboard are all too old to have this anti-feature. Do you know if there is a list of which of their hardware this is the case for?
Damnit, I always preferred Logitech mice. I guess I might have bought my last one.
What’s Logitech have to do with it
deleted by creator
What does it do with Linux?
The ASUS UEFI firmware exposes an ACPI table to Windows 10, called “WPBT” or “Windows Platform Binary Table”. WPBT is used in the pre-built OEM industry, and is referred to as “the Vendor’s Rootkit.” Put simply, it is a script that makes Windows copy data from the BIOS to the System32 folder on the machine and execute it during Windows startup - every single time the system is booted.
So, sounds like a Windows-specific
vulnerabilityfeature.Make a read only file/folder with the same name and the script should fail. But that is horseshit.
Similarly (above), I can’t confirm this either, on two different Asus boards, still in support/updates. I’m assuming this requires their software to be installed, which there’s no point to, so I didn’t bother… Maybe it’s part of their armory crate system, which can (should) be disabled in the bios…
the wreath has a memory leak
modern app design and its consequences
More like old app design. It’s much harder (but of course fully doable) to have a memory leak in modern languages.
it is a very subtile ad for linux
If it’s unwanted, disruptive, and (allegedly) impacts performance, that’s not “malware-like”. It’s malware.
It also automatically reinstalls itself through a BIOS feature. That’s advanced level malware.
Right? I thought I read that wrong!
To disable future crap like this you gotta do it in the FUCKING BIOS? Wtf Asus…
WDYM “malware like”? It is malware.
“do not panic – your device is not compromised.”
meme(always has been)
There is nothing wrong with your device. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We control the horizontal. We control the vertical.
…We control the treble, and all your bass belongs to us too.
/incredibly ancient joke
If you think the zoomers don’t know about Zero Wing you got another thing coming, buster 😎
I suddenly have the UHF theme song stuck in my head. We gonna make a couch potatah outta you!
Who green lit this? I really hope that person gets fired immediately.
The lack of any visual link to ASUS isn’t even the biggest problem for me; it’s that ASUS rolls out a program that (presumably) puts itself in autostart by default and just pops up without prompt at all.
Edit: There’s a fucking setting in the BIOS to auto-install ASUS’ bullshit software? And it’s enabled by default… jesus fucking christ
Most computers firmware can store a Windows executable. Microsoft pushed for an addition to the ACPI tables called WPBT. That stores a Windows exectuable in the firmware. It is of course totally used for the intended purpose…
There has been for years now. Disabling it is part of my first-time setup for a new board.
My ASUS X470 board doesn’t have it, though; guess it’s a bit too old for that
Another reason to not buy any Asus stuff.
everyone submit a help desk ticket to Asus asking wtf is going on
I’d love to know if this was just some guy who went ‘let’s ship it to all our customers!’ or if this was a C-level 300 hours of meetings type of thing which concluded that spreading christmas
malwarecheer was the right move.this was downloaded and ‘installed’ by asus armory crate, which came from malware baked right into the bios of new and ‘newish’ asus motherboards (how to disable)
You just cant make this shit up. Truly is year of the linux desktop.
I feel like there would be no “Year of the Linux Desktop”, but rather the year of “Oh wow when did we hit 20% already?” A death of a thousand cuts is more plausible.
They say that every year
And every year it is.
I don’t use Linux much, and I still agree. If the market share for Linux continues to rise every year, then it’s absolutely true.
There must have been at least one crappy one though, statistically speaking
Now ask the non-Christians need to do a class action lawsuit lol
Wot?
Somebody should create a windows executable to be placed in the WPBT that silently install Linux on first windows boot…
Why don’t every vendor with an installed app make a similar banner?
It would be so festive, and I bet people would love it, to have 20 or 30 such occurrences every time you need to use your computer during holidays.
It would of course be optimal if each has an animation and a tune, that need to finish before you can escape.
Weird that only Asus had this brilliant idea? It’s so awesome when you are not in control of what happens on your computer.
/sIf you want to take back control, Linux is your best option.
Oooh, make one of them a little purple animated gorilla, I’d like that too.
banzai!!!
And why stop at Christmas, there’s so many other religious & non-religious festivals through the year… we could have these for every occasion
(also /s)
