Microsoft's latest monthly security update is causing issues for computers that utilize dual-boot setups with Windows and Linux.
Last week, the company released a security patch aimed at addressing a two-year-old vulnerability in the open-source bootloader GRUB, which is used by many Linux devices. Although the patch from Microsoft was not supposed to affect dual-boot systems, many users have encountered problems preventing their Linux installations from booting correctly.
Some users facing dual-boot with Windows and Linux see messages such as "security policy violation" and errors stating "something went seriously wrong" during the boot process for Linux. Relevant complaints have emerged on Reddit, Ubuntu forums, and various other sites. The Microsoft patch has impacted several distributions, including Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, and Puppy Linux.
The update was intended to fix a vulnerability that allowed hackers to bypass Secure Boot technology, which is widely used in both Windows and Linux distributions. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it would implement a "Secure Boot Advanced Targeting (SBAT) update to block vulnerable Linux bootloaders that may compromise Windows security," but this update was not supposed to impact dual-boot systems, so it "should not affect these setups." However, something went awry.
Microsoft has not commented on the issues caused by its update. For Ubuntu users, there is a workaround that involves disabling Secure Boot at the BIOS level, then logging into the Ubuntu user account and opening a terminal to remove the Microsoft SBAT policy.
Microsoft has been using Secure Boot in Windows for years and made this technology a key requirement for Windows 11 to protect against BIOS rootkits. Researchers have identified several vulnerabilities in Secure Boot.
Source: The Verge
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