This new Windows 10 bug could break your PC

Do not do that. Most people won’t try to navigate to Windows 10 root folders, but just in case someone might be digging into their PC’s software guts, it’s best not to enter this file path in your browser. : “\. globalroot device condrv kernelconnect”. Not only will this crash your PC instantly, but also give you the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), from which your PC may not be able to recover . Do not do that!

According to Tom’s Guide, the bug was recently discovered by a Windows security researcher Jonas Lykkegaard, who has tweeted about the issue from time to time since October 2020. Lykkegaard explained that when the above path is opened in Windows 10 regardless of whether the user has administrative privileges or not, the system cannot properly check for errors when it tries to connect to the path, which results in a BSOD crash.

Devs aside, there’s not much of a reason that an average Windows 10 user would want to dig into root folders, especially at the kernel level; Windows kernel is a crucial program that allows the operating system to run, controlling day-to-day processes such as running drivers and starting and stopping programs. This is what connects the user to the hardware. But it’s still important to be aware that this bug exists.

While Gizmodo did not test the link ourselves (as a precaution it could kill one of our rare test PCs), Tom’s Guide and BleepingComputer have sacrificed a PC for the cause. The PC used by Tom’s Guide got stuck in an automatic repair boot loop. BleepingComputer didn’t say if his PC came out alive, but it confirmed this bug is present on Windows 10 version 1709 and later.

The bug can also give hackers a way to perform Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, which can shut down a computer or network, making it completely inaccessible to users. But in this case, a hacker may not need to flood the system with repeated requests, as would normally happen in a DoS attack – entering the file path above might be all it takes.

Lykkegaard explained that a hacker could easily trick someone into downloading or clicking on a Windows URL (.url) file which would automatically take them to the problematic path and then crash their PC.

A Microsoft spokesperson told BleepingComputer, “Microsoft is committed to investigating the reported security issues and we will provide updates for affected devices as soon as possible.” So it looks like Microsoft is aware of the issue and is working to fix it, but doesn’t have a timeline for deploying a patch to Windows 10 version 1709 or higher. In the meantime, do not attempt to navigate to the file path and be absolutely vigilant for any suspicious links and files that might appear in your inbox or elsewhere on the internet.