[BreachExchange] Microsoft Windows XP Source Code Reportedly Leaked Online

[Destry Winant]

https://thehackernews.com/2020/09/windows-xp-source-code.html

Microsoft's long-lived operating system Windows XP—that still powers
over 1% of all laptops and desktop computers worldwide—has had its
source code leaked online, allegedly, along with Windows Server 2003.

Yes, you heard that right.

The source code for Microsoft's 19-year-old operating system was
published as a torrent file on notorious bulletin board website 4chan,
and it's for the very first time when source code for Microsoft's
operating system has been leaked to the public.

Several reports suggest that the collection of torrent files, which
weigh 43GB in size, also said to include the source code for Windows
Server 2003 and several Microsoft's older operating systems,
including:

Windows 2000
Windows CE 3
Windows CE 4
Windows CE 5
Windows Embedded 7
Windows Embedded CE
Windows NT 3.5
Windows NT 4
MS-DOS 3.30
MS-DOS 6.0

The torrent download also includes the alleged source code for various
Windows 10 components that appeared in 2017 and source code for the
first operating system of the original Xbox that appeared online in
May.

While Microsoft has not officially confirmed or denied the leak yet,
several independent security researchers have since begun analyzing
the source code and spoken of its legitimacy (1, 2).

Using the name billgates3, the leaker claims to have compiled the
collection of leaked Microsoft source code over the course of the last
few months.

The leaker also said that many Microsoft operating system source code
files had been passed around privately between hackers for years.

So, the leaker decided to share the source code to the public, saying
that "information should be free and available to everyone."

"I created this torrent for the community, as I believe information
should be free and available to everyone, and hoarding information for
oneself and keeping it secret is an evil act in my opinion," the
leaker said, adding that the company "claims to love open source so
then I guess they'll love how open this source code is now that it's
passed around on BitTorrent."

Besides containing source code, the torrent also includes a media
folder (files and videos) related to conspiracy theories about Bill
Gates.

The leaked source code should not come as a surprise as Microsoft does
have a history of providing its OS source code to governments
worldwide via a special Government Security Program (GSP) the company
runs that allows governments and organizations controlled access to
the source code.

Needless to say, Microsoft ended its support for Windows XP back in
2014, so its source code leak doesn't make the systems running the
outdated OS version more of a target, because there's probably a ton
of other unpatched vulnerabilities already exist.

But since operating systems may share code, exploitable flaws found in
the Windows XP source code still present in Windows 10 can allow
hackers to target newer versions of Windows operating system
altogether, which would be a real threat to billions of users.