n case you own select models of the Lenovo's ThinkPad, ThinkCentre or ThinkStation computer systems, you better pay attention. According to a security advisory released by the company, laptops, desktops or notebooks belonging to the Think series and running Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 suffer from a security vulnerability, which you might want to fix ASAP. The security flaw enables hackers to potentially log in to your computer using a hardcoded password, bypassing the fingerprint scanner, and even decrypt your current Windows credentials. However, the individual will need physical access to the system.
"A vulnerability has been identified in Lenovo Fingerprint Manager Pro. Sensitive data stored by Lenovo Fingerprint Manager Pro, including users’ Windows logon credentials, is encrypted using a weak algorithm, contains a hard-coded password, and is accessible to all users with local non-administrative access to the system it is installed in. Lenovo Fingerprint Manager Pro is a utility for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 that allows users to log into their PCs or authenticate to configured websites using fingerprint recognition," Lenovo wrote on its support page.
The vulnerability stems from Lenovo’s Fingerprint Manager Pro software, which is needed for the fingerprint sensors to operate. Lenovo has released an updated version of the software, which supposedly fixes the issue.
So in case you own one of the Lenovo models listed below, you better download and install the fix immediately.
ThinkPad L560 ThinkPad P40 Yoga, P50s ThinkPad T440, T440p, T440s, T450, T450s, T460, T540p, T550, t*560 ThinkPad W540, W541, W550s ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Type 20A7, 20A8), X1 Carbon (Type 20BS, 20BT) ThinkPad X240, X240s, X250, X260 ThinkPad Yoga 14 (20FY), Yoga 460 ThinkCentre M73, M73z, M78, M79, M83, M93, M93p, M93z ThinkStation E32, P300, P500, P700, P900
Systems that are running on Windows 10 are not affected because they use Microsoft's own fingerprint-reading software.
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