Do not do this. Most people are not going to experiment with navigating to Windows 10 folder, but just in case someone might be digging into the software gut of their computer, it’s best to stay away from entering this file path in your browser: ‘\. globalroot device condrv kernelconnect ”. This will not only cause your computer to crash immediately, but also give you the dreaded blue screen (BSOD) from which your computer may not be able to recover. Do not do it!
According to Tom’s Guide, the bug was recently discovered by Windows security researcher Jonas Lykkegaard, which has been tweeting over and over the issue since October 2020. Lykkegaard explained that when the above path is opened in Windows 10, regardless of whether the user has administrative rights or not, the system can not properly check if there are errors trying to connect to the path, leading to a BSOD crash lead.
Apart from developers, there is not much of the reason why an average Windows 10 user wants to dig into the root directories, especially at the core level; the Windows kernel is an important program that allows the operating system to function, which controls everyday processes, such as managing drivers, and for starting and ending programs. This is what connects the user to the hardware. But it is still important to note that this error exists.
While Gizmodo did not test the link itself (from the big warning that it could kill one of our few test computers), Tom’s Guide and Tom BleepingComputer sacrificed a computer for the cause. The computer that Tom’s Guide used was stuck in an auto-repair loop. BleepingComputer did not say whether the computer brought it to life, but did confirm this bug is on Windows 10 version 1709 and later.
The bug can also provide hackers with a way to perform denial of service (DoS) denial of service, which could shut down a computer or network, making it totally inaccessible to users. But in this case, a hacker does not have to flood the system with repeated requests, which would normally happen in a DoS attack – importing the above filepath may be all that is needed.
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Lykkegaard explained that a hacker could easily trick someone into downloading or clicking on a Windows URL file (.url) that would automatically take them to the problematic path and then drop their computer.
A Microsoft spokesman told BleepingComputer: “Microsoft has a customer commitment to investigate reported security issues and we will provide updates for affected devices as soon as possible.” It seems that Microsoft is aware of this issue and is working to resolve it, but has no timeline for when a patch will roll out to Windows 10 version 1709 or later. In the meantime, try not to go to the file path, and be very vigilant about suspicious links and files that may appear in your inbox or elsewhere on the Internet.