A long time ago, I, like many, used dualboot with Ubuntu and Windows. I don't remember what happened, but a system update Microsoft It caused me a failure and I decided to just stick with Ubuntu. I had already been warned that these things could happen, and this August it happened to many users after applying the Patch Tuesday updates. The window system company has not yet emerged from one scandal and has already gotten into another.
The problem has been that, to improve security, Microsoft has decided to apply an update to Secure Boot Advanced Targeting (SBAT) to block Linux loaders that have not received the patch for the security flaw. CVE-2022-2601, something that has caused GRUB to not be able to start if the computer has Secure Boot active from the BIOS.
Microsoft doesn't love Linux
Microsoft says that "The vulnerability assigned to this CVE is in the Linux GRUB2 bootloader, a bootloader designed to support Secure Boot on systems running Linux.«. They also assured that the SBAT update should not affect dual-boot systems, but users of Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Puppy Linux, Debian and other distributions. The problem appears when applying the August 2024 updates on Windows system.
The list of affected systems can be immense. Although it could lose, I would bet that users of all distributions that support Secure Boot have seen it and have it activated along with a Windows installation.
At the moment, the only solution seems to be to deactivate Secure Boot, install the current Linux distribution and activate Secure Boot again. Microsoft has not yet acknowledged the error and It is unknown if he is working on a solution.
Since I do not use dualboot and have not suffered the misfortune, some of what I comment may be speculation, but it could also work. Considering that the problem is related to Secure Boot, another possible solution that does not require reinstalling Linux could go through disable Secure Boot to enable Linux to start and activate it for when we want to use Windows. A little cumbersome, but then nothing would be lost while waiting for a move from Microsoft.
USB installations also affected
The issue also appears to affect installations to a USB. Without being one of those affected, it is something I cannot confirm, but those who have installed on USBs would not be able to start Linux either, and not even use live sessions.
And that's why dualboot is not always a good idea.
I know perfectly well that there are many users who prefer to use Linux on their main computer, but sometimes they need something from Windows and that's why they use dual start with the Microsoft system. But, as I have already explained, I have not used it for years, and I explain how I can survive:
- Linux offers programs that allow us to do everything, and that goes for everyday life. Spotify, Netflix, social networks... most services are available in any browser.
- Is Microsoft 355 — Office — what I need? LibreOffice can do the same. But if you need the Microsoft suite no matter what, you may office.com be what we are looking for. If not, one of the following two points.
- If I need Windows and don't require anything special, I have a virtual machine in GNOME Boxes.
- And for something more native, I have an SSD with Windows to Go. It is not exactly the same, but I would say that it is in a high percentage.
The first point seems important to me: we don't always need to use something compatible with Windows, just start using the alternatives that are available. And sometimes not even that, because, as we have explained, nowadays you can do almost everything from the browser. Yes even Apple He just opened a website to listen to his podcasts.
In any case, if you have been affected, let's hope that the loss has not been too great.