October 20, 2021

Microsoft published an advisory that addresses a security feature bypass vulnerability known as CVE-2021-42299 impacting Surface Pro 3.

According to Google security experts who found it, the vulnerability can be exploited in highly complex attacks known as TPM Carte Blanche and could ultimately allow threat actors to introduce malicious devices into enterprise environments.

Exploiting the vulnerability could allow attackers to poison the TPM and PCR protocols to obtain false certificates, allowing them to compromise the Device Health Attestation. The Device Health Attestation is a cloud and on-premise service that validates TPM and PCR protocols for endpoints and notifies mobile device management solutions when Secure Boot, BitLocker and Early Launch Antimalware are enabled, Trusted Boot is correctly signed, and other validation processes are performed.

While newer Surface devices such as the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are not vulnerable, Microsoft said other devices from other manufacturers could be vulnerable to TPM Carte Blanche attacks.

For more information, read the original story in BleepingComputer.