NTFS bug can cause web pages to crash Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs

[Brink]

...The new bug, which fortunately doesn't appear to afflict Windows 10, uses another special filename. This time around, the special filename of choice is $MFT. $MFT is the name given to one of the special metadata files that are used by Windows' NTFS filesystem. The file exists in the root directory of each NTFS volume, but the NTFS driver handles it in special ways, and it's hidden from view and inaccessible to most software. Attempts to open the file are normally blocked, but in a move reminiscent of the Windows 9x flaw, if the filename is used as if it were a directory name—for example, trying to open the file c:\$MFT\123—then the NTFS driver takes out a lock on the file and never releases it. Every subsequent operation sits around waiting for the lock to be released.Forever. This blocks any and all other attempts to access the file system, and so every program will start to hang, rendering the machine unusable until it is rebooted...

Read more: In a throwback to the '90s, NTFS bug lets anyone hang or crash Windows 7, 8.1 | Ars Technica

 

[Melchior]

ugh.. ouch... MAYBE M$ would be so kind as to fix this

 

[michael diemer]

Assuming they did not create it as another little nudge toward windows 10...

 

[lehnerus2000]

It's easy to crash Windows using the Command Prompt.

 

[Melchior]

It's easy to crash Windows using the Command Prompt.

lol I've used the Command Line Interpreter since the DOS days and never really had an issue

I use cmd for compiling programs using MinGW(set in PATH), ping, tracert, etc

 

[lehnerus2000]

lol I've used the Command Line Interpreter since the DOS days and never really had an issue

I use cmd for compiling programs using MinGW(set in PATH), ping, tracert, etc

Use it to kill running processes.
If you choose the right one, Windows will instantly BSOD.

 

[CarlSD]

Assuming they did not create it as another little nudge toward windows 10...

Yes, one cannot help but think that with all these huge security problems with Windows 7 suddenly appearing over the past few months.

After the GWX campaign, nothing would surprise me anymore.

 

[Melchior]

Use it to kill running processes.
If you choose the right one, Windows will instantly BSOD.

lol :sarc: that's a big if and its not that easy to kill a process... even from the command line

 

[MeOnMine]

Yes, one cannot help but think that with all these huge security problems with Windows 7 suddenly appearing over the past few months.

After the GWX campaign, nothing would surprise me anymore.

Spot on Carl, my words exactly.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Looks more like a ie11 thing to me ?
If so the fix is easy = don't use ie11

Some browsers will block attempts to access these local resources, but Internet Explorer, for example, will merrily try to access the bad file.

 

[lehnerus2000]

lol :sarc: that's a big if and its not that easy to kill a process... even from the command line

I would've expected that anything you can do in Task manager (or Process Explorer) could be done from the Command Prompt.

IIRC, all I had to do to BSOD my PC, was kill "csrss.exe" (I only ever made that mistake once).