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Microsoft patches firmware flaw that allowed Copilot to brick Surface devices

Feeds.4Sysops •IT News • June 12, 2026

A firmware vulnerability in Microsoft Surface devices allowed the hardware to be permanently bricked by a single malformed packet. The flaw was discovered when Microsoft Copilot accidentally generated a Python script that overwrote the embedded controller firmware while attempting to adjust backlight settings. This issue occurs because the system management controller lacks a defense against arbitrary write values and interleaves read and write commands. Source

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Microsoft Patches Critical Firmware Flaw in Surface Devices Exposed by Copilot Microsoft has addressed a firmware vulnerability in Surface devices that allowed them to be bricked by a single malformed packet. The flaw was identified when Microsoft Copilot inadvertently generated a Python script that overwrote the embedded controller firmware while attempting to adjust screen backlight settings. This issue primarily affects Surface devices with Secure Core and Secure Boot disabled. Microsoft claims that exploitation requires administrator privileges and specific driver interactions, making it less likely to be a practical threat. However, the absence of security checks in the firmware allowed Copilot to execute arbitrary writes, leading to device inoperability upon reboot. The vulnerability has been a topic of discussion in online support forums for Surface devices. Microsoft has been patching this issue over the past 90 days, and the current status indicates that the flaw has mostly been repaired. 4 sources 58

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Copilot Microsoft Surface