ikarius6 / pwgen-for-bios

Console password generator for BIOS

Console Pwgen For BIOS

About

This code is based on python programs from Dogbert's Blog and research by Asyncritus, which is itself a fork.

It can calculate recovery password for bios from a service tag hash.

Supported BIOS types:

• Compaq - 5 decimal digits
• Dell - serial number for series -595B, -D35B. -2A7B and -1D3B
• Fujitsu-Siemens - 5 decimal digits, 8 hexadecimal digits, 5x4 hexadecimal digits, 5x4 decimal digits
• Hewlett-Packard - 5 decimal digits, 10 characters
• Insyde H20 (generic) - 8 decimal digits
• Phoenix (generic) - 5 decimal digits
• Sony - 7 digit serial number
• Samsung - 12 hexadecimal digits

The main difference for the fork is that it can be ran from console directly :

Linux

node biosPwd.js 07088120410C0000

Windows

node.exe biosPwd.js 07088120410C0000

In order to get the code/serial, either the BIOS itself will provide it, or you can try the PC's serial number written somewhere on the caseback.

You will need Node.js for that:

Linux

sudo aptitude install nodejs || echo 'you know what to do'

Windows

Mitigation

Even if your model doesn't have a backdoor/escrow password, it can still be reset by disconnecting CMOS battery.

One of the mitigations is to use NVRAM to store BIOS/UEFI passwords (already implemented for top HP/Dell models), but it can still be bypassed by short-circuiting associated jumpers (can burn motherboard), plus your password have to be strong.

A sure way to at least detect such tampering is to use TPM (Trusted Platform Module).

Finally, you shouldn't rely on BIOS for your security.