Optiplex 9010: How to verify BIOS?

Question

I bought a used 9010. Before I install an OS, I need to verify the BIOS is free of malware. Dell supplies a BIOS Verification software but the page for Dell BIOS Verification System Requirements does not list the 9010 under Computer Models.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln317312/dell-bios-verification-system-requirements?lang=en

How can I either verify the current BIOS to be clean, or know for sure that a BIOS update will remove any malware? Or does the update software verify the BIOS update?

fireberd · Answer

Why not do a CMOS (BIOS). Get a new CR2032 coin cell battery. With the PC powered off and AC power cable disconnected, open the case and remove the CR2032 battery located on the motherboard. Wait at least 10 minutes then install the new battery.

This clears the BIOS and resets it to the factory default.

speedstep · Answer

There is no such thing as modern bios that has malware.

The 9010 is VERY old CLASS 1 bios that works with XP.

It would not be supported being from 2011 AKA 9 years old.

There will never be any spectre or meltdown updates for this model because intel decided that they would not be fixing these.

This is why modern class 1 2 3 uefi bios has signatures.

msdos and mbr booting are not part of modern chipsets.

root kits can reside in partitions that the user cannot removwithout using diskpart to CLEAN the drive then shut down.

usb flash drives can also have malware as can network drives.

This is why homegroup and peer to peer networking was removed from windows.

As early as 2011 26 percent of all malware infections of Windows come from USB flash drives exploiting the AutoRun feature.

The majority of malware is quiet now and tries to hide itself in a preferably unobtrusive place like the System Volume Information directory or the trash bin folder.

Most MODERN dells can use bios recovery if there are any issues.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln300716/bios-recovery-options-on-a-dell-pc-or-tablet?lang=en

donm4599x · Answer

WARNING !!!!!!!!!   Spectre.   WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!   MELTDOWN

fireberd · Answer

I haven't seen any posts on here or other computer forums I visit of this actually infecting someone's PC.  The potential is there, that's all.

speedstep · Answer

https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm

Meltdown and Spectre exploit vulnerabilities in processors. These hardware vulnerabilities allow programs to steal data which is currently processed on the computer. While programs are typically not permitted to read data from other programs, a malicious program can exploit Meltdown and Spectre to get hold of secrets stored in the memory of other running programs. This might include your passwords stored in a password manager or browser, your personal photos, emails, instant messages and even business-critical documents.

The processors which Intel won’t be patching include four lines from 2007, Penryn, Yorkfield, and Wolfdale, along with Bloomfield (2009), Clarksfield (2009), Jasper Forest (2010) and the Intel Atom SoFIA processors from 2015.

CVE-2017-5754 is the official reference to Meltdown.

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5754

Because of the nature of the Spectre exploit, patches for it need to be delivered as an operating system or BIOS update, and if Microsoft and motherboard OEMs aren’t going to distribute the patches, developing them isn’t going to happen.

Attack Category Attack Scenario CVE-2017-5753 CVE-2017-5715 CVE-2017-5754

Inter-VM	Hypervisor-to-guest	Applicable	Applicable	Not applicable
	Host-to-guest	Applicable	Applicable	Not applicable
	Guest-to-guest	Applicable	Applicable	Not applicable
Intra-OS	Kernel-to-user	Applicable	Applicable	Applicable
	Process-to-process	Applicable	Applicable	Not applicable
	Intra-process	Applicable	Applicable	Not applicable
Enclave	Enclave-to-any	Applicable	Applicable	Not applicable

CVE Public Vulnerability Name Other Names Processors Affected

CVE-2017-5753	Bounds check bypass	Spectre, Variant 1	AMD, ARM, Intel
CVE-2017-5715	Branch target injection	Spectre, Variant 2	AMD, ARM, Intel
CVE-2017-5754	Rogue data cache load	Meltdown, Variant 3	ARM, Intel

savvy2 · Answer

can you prove one PC in earth that was infected 1 time in the wild (FIRMWARE?) love to hear it, sure would

modern BIOS (heck long ago the EEPROM write enable pin set to false was 100% effective but some drep ended that.(who are those dweebs, find them and lock them up?) saving 1cent on a jumper is crazy.

modern BIOS has these protections from hackers. etc. (due to above missing)

self check sum tests =CS, and CRC checks, the latter super super hard to fool !
then has secret DELL signature in the code that is checked and also if wrong makes above fail too.
newer bios has this new features call FIRMWARE signature tests, turn it on.
and last the dells O9010-xyz.exe file is encrypted so others can just hack it easy (this is very effective)
This EXE also has code to fail if hacked, I have not tested that but will soon.
and the inside above dell ROMburn.exe has all the old features removed, like export BIN and backup ROM etc. gone,. (so type the romburn.exe /? see what is missing, answer most,its wings are CUT)
more I am sure and way over my pay grade, $0/per year.

end FUD and fear NOW !

savvy2 · Answer

donm nails this

Optiplex Desktops

Optiplex 9010: How to verify BIOS?

Was this post helpful?