Microsoft threatened legal action, and this researcher just dropped a new Windows bug anyway
A researcher Microsoft threatened with legal action just published a new Windows zero-day called ShieldBreak, and there's still no patch for it.
Security researcher Nightmare Eclipse, undeterred by Microsoft's legal threats, has released a new Windows vulnerability named ShieldBreak. This exploit targets Windows Defender, the built-in anti-malware engine in Windows. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to gain full system access from a low-level user account. Nightmare Eclipse shared the proof of concept as a downloadable Windows app, meaning someone must run it for the exploit to work.
The bug affects Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2025. Nightmare Eclipse claims ShieldBreak builds upon a previous exploit called RoguePlanet, but Microsoft's previous patch was insufficient. This incident is part of an ongoing feud between Nightmare Eclipse and Microsoft regarding bug reporting. Microsoft acknowledged the vulnerability but has not yet released a patch.
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