Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo PCs at risk of bloatware security flaws

A trifecta of vulnerabilities has been found in software preinstalled on a number of Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo consumer and enterprise PCs and tablets, affecting millions of users.

A user can be tricked into opening a specially-crafted web page, either as a drive-by download or through an email attachment, which could allow an attacker to exploit the flaw.

The security researcher, known as slipstream/RoL, confirmed to ZDNet that he did not inform Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo of the flaws before the the proof-of-concept code was posted online.

An advisory, posted by Carnegie Mellon University's public vulnerability database (CERT) on Thursday, said preinstalled Lenovo software ( often known as "bloatware" ) includes three vulnerabilities.

Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo PCs at risk of bloatware security flaws | ZDNet

eLPuSHeR said:

That's why the best thing after purchasing a laptop is reformatting it. I know it's annoying but it will save you from a lot of headaches and your system will run better.

That's the best thing you can do. A new PC/Lappy comes with so much freakin bloatware nowadays it's ridiculous.