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HighPublic exploit

Secure Boot bypass in Howyar UEFI Reloader

IdentifiersCVE-2024-7344CWE-347· Improper Verification of…

CVE-2024-7344 is a vulnerability in the Howyar UEFI Application "Reloader" (32-bit and 64-bit), a Microsoft-signed UEFI component distributed with multiple recovery products including Howyar SysReturn, Greenware GreenGuard, Radix SmartRecovery, Sanfong EZ-back System, and CES NeoImpact. The vulnerable application uses a custom PE loader rather than the standard UEFI LoadImage and StartImage mechanisms, and it loads a UEFI binary from a hard-coded path/name, cloak.dat, without properly verifying its signature. Because Reloader itself is signed by Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011 and trusted by Secure Boot, an attacker can abuse it as a bring-your-own-vulnerable-bootloader primitive to execute an unsigned UEFI payload while bypassing Secure Boot policy.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows bypass of UEFI Secure Boot and execution of arbitrary attacker-controlled code in the UEFI pre-OS environment. This can enable bootkit-style persistence, execution before the operating system and security agents initialize, evasion of OS-based defenses, and persistence that may survive operating system reinstallation. The vulnerability can therefore provide a high-impact foothold for firmware-level persistence and further compromise of the platform.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Install the updated Reloader application from the vendor and ensure the Secure Boot Forbidden Signature Database (DBX) is current. Systems that disable trust in third-party Microsoft UEFI CA-signed binaries, such as certain Windows 11 Secured-core configurations, reduce exposure. Monitor the EFI System Partition for suspicious files such as cloak.dat and for unexpected bootloader changes. Validate Secure Boot revocation status across the fleet and test DBX updates carefully before broad deployment to avoid boot issues.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade affected recovery software to a fixed release. The provided advisory states SysReturn should be updated to version 10.2.02320240919 or later. Apply the relevant Secure Boot DBX revocation updates so vulnerable Reloader binaries are no longer trusted; the content states Microsoft revoked affected binaries on 2025-01-14. Follow vendor and OS guidance for Secure Boot variable updates, ensure trusted DB updates are in place before applying DBX updates, and update any installable or recovery media that may still contain the vulnerable boot component.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
Cs-GrpNeo Impactapplication
GreenwareGreenguardapplication
HowyarReloaderapplication
HowyarSysreturnapplication
RadixSmart Recoveryapplication
SanfongEz-Back Systemapplication
SignalcomputerHdd Kingapplication
WasayErecoveryrxapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

64 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware6

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity56

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.