Windows 11 BSOD

When you think the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is no longer happening in the latest Windows versions, think again. A Windows 11 BSOD is caused by certain versions of the Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) driver. The IntcAudioBus.sys driver causes the crash.

More details directly from Microsoft explain the details of the versions of the driver that cause the problem.

In case you are experiencing the BSOD, you can install a newer driver version (if available from Intel or your computer manufacturer).  If not, a driver rollback might also work. Boot into safe mode in case you cannot access the Windows 11 interface in the normal way.

But even if you are not seeing any Windows BSOD errors, it is wise to check if your system is using the Intel SST driver and update the driver for it. Use the Device Manager to check for the audio device.

Richt-click the Start menu, and then select the Run otpion.

Type “devmgmt.msc” and press Enter to start the Device Manager.

Right click the devices listed, and click Properties to see the driver version details (Driver tab).

From the Device Manager it is also possible to Update the driver or Roll Back the driver. If you do choose to update the driver using the Update Driver button, make sure you do not use the automatic but use the search on disk option. That allows for the manual selection of the driver, rather than updating from the Microsoft Update Catalog, which could still give you the incorrect version.

To make sure your Windows PC always has the latest drivers, we recommend using a program like DriverFinder. It automatically checks your PC hardware devices and finds the lates device drivers for them.

Add comment December 3rd, 2021

Dell DBUtil driver bug

You would think the big companies get it right, but even Dell seems to have gotten it wrong with their DBUtil driver bug. Dell’s firmware update driver appears to have been a security problem going as far back as 2009!

The current version 2.3 of the Dell BIOS driver (dbutil_2_3.sys) allows the OS and system apps to interact with the computer’s BIOS and hardware. A vulnerability in the driver could be abused to allow access to driver functions which would  enable execution of  malicious code with administrator level and kernel-level privileges.

Any time you would have executed a firmware update on a Windows Dell system, you could have this driver present on your computer. Note that this is independent of the Windows version. The issue affects the DBUtil driver only, not the firmware updates installed using this driver.

The best thing to do is to remove the driver immediately, until an update can be installed.

Check these file locations for the driver file:

• C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp

• C:\Windows\Temp

A solution from Dell for Windows 10 is already available.

The full details on the issue and the work in progress from Dell regarding the solution can be found here.

Another confirmation that security remains a sensitive issue, particularly with drivers. We recommend to always keep your drivers up-to-date as much as possible.

And since we are talking security… if you are using Windows Defender for your PC security, make sure you check for updates as well. A recent bug in Microsoft Defender can fill up the system driver of Windows 10 with thousands of files of varying sizes. A patch is available,m so check your Windows Defender version and update it if required. More details on the bug can be found here.

Add comment May 7th, 2021