RSSMicrosoft Investigates Leak of Windows Source Code
By Nate Mook and David Worthington | Published February 12, 2004, 7:35 PM
UPDATED Microsoft is currently investigating a potential severe security breach that has let loose onto the Internet source code for its Windows 2000 operating system. Portions of the code viewed by BetaNews contain a mix of library files, executables, text documents, scripts, and un-compiled code.
In addition, rumors have begun to circulate claiming that the source code to Windows NT4 has also gone astray.
It is currently unknown how much of the source has been compromised, and just how damaging its disclosure will be for Microsoft.
The claimed Windows 2000 source code archive contains 30,915 files totaling approximately 13.5 million lines. The source is dated July 25, 2000, placing it after the official release of the operating system, which was rumored to contain between 35 and 50 million lines of code in its entirety.
Early references to "Whistler" -- the code-name for Windows XP -- can be found in the files, which is consistent with the post-Windows 2000 time frame. An internal alpha version of Whistler leaked in March 2000.
A Microsoft spokesperson told BetaNews that the company was looking into this as a matter of due diligence. "At this time, all we have to say is the rumor regarding the availability of Windows source code is based the speculation of an individual who saw a small section of un-identified code and thought it looked like Windows code," the spokesperson said. "If a small section of Windows source code were to be available, it would be a matter of intellectual property rights rather than security."
Sources indicates the leak is valid, but incomplete. Comments -- which are added to track changes to source code during development -- refer to specific bugs, Microsoft employees, and even organizational charts. Product code names are abound, with references to Daytona, Cairo, and Memphis, as well as beta timetables. The archive contains graphics files for Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer 5.0 included in resource files, according to sources.
Comments such as, "potentially off-by-1, but who cares..." are buried within code for the Windows Taskbar. Sources tell BetaNews there is no reference that calls Netscape developers "Weenies," as was alleged in court documents. Other comments range from mundane technical jargon to all out profanity.
This is not the first time Microsoft has experienced a code leak. Incomplete source to Microsoft's DOS version 6.22 surfaced years ago, but received little attention due to its obsolescence.
Senior Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox told BetaNews he was surprised by the news. "I find it hard to believe that source code would leak. After all, companies put source code under lock and key, typically with no outside access available. That said, a substantial leak would be devastating for Microsoft."
"A source code leak would present multiple problems for Microsoft," explained Wilcox. "First, the loss of valuable intellectual property worth hundreds of millions in development cost. Second, hackers could look for and exploit new security vulnerabilities. That could create credibility loss for Microsoft, as some businesses question the security of Windows. Finally, Windows NT and 2000 are the foundation of Windows XP."
Eric Steil contributed to this report.
i got a copy of it and microsoft is full of $hit its complete you can compile the entire os using tools like nmake and the windows software development kit sdk ive allredy managed to re compile windows movie maker that solitaire game and working on explorer with shell32
Score: 0
|where can i find them?
Answer to: Ali_Abolhassani@Yahoo.com
Thanx
Score: 0
|where can i find them? (Windows Source Code)
Score: 0
|Where i can find it?
Score: 0
|... The Computer Rodent can attrubute this whole deal to Microsoft-haters like BetaNews manipulating reporting of events to favor Apple (only 2.9% of desktop market share) and Linux (less market share than even Apple !). ... Hey, if Apple-Linux are so "good", how be it BetaNews kow-tows to 'em ? Think about THAT, bub ! ... And, why is it BetaNews deletes pro-Microsoft comments in this forum ? ~Excactly~ why are they afraid ? ... An impartial analysis finds BetaNews in bed with Stece Jobs with no lubricant ! ... The DataRat ...
Score: 0
|Wow!
Just think what an open source Windows could be. With the bug fixes and code updates from open source developers, Windows might actually become what it claims to already be -- a viable, working OS.
Score: 0
|Second, hackers could look for and exploit new security vulnerabilities.
Let's rewrite that.
Second, hackers could provide a much more reliable source for patches and bug fixes.
Score: 0
|Ah yes. "Hackers could provide a much more reliable source for patches and bug fixes."
What brilliant insight. What, with all the good meaning "hackers" that we have out there today, just think of what could be done? I'll bet they'll be 'hackers' just be lining up to patch Windows.
Idiocy.
Score: 0
|You may be confusing the term Hacker with the term Cracker.
Examples:
Hackers write Linux.
A Cracker wrote MyDoom.
Want some homework? Read "The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age"
http://search.barnesandn...bn=0375505660&itm=3
Score: 0
|This might force Microsoft to work much harder on bugs because now that the source is out I'm sure many more exploits will come out. Maybe Microsoft should just start with a new source code for Longhorn. From what I heard the source has just been built on and built on and built on since 3.1 or 95. True? Maybe that would fix many of the errors in Windows. Just a thought. ;)
Score: 0
|Get a Mac, and power it with solar or wind energy while you're enjoying how well it works, even having been designed and perfected by 'hackers' et al...
Score: 0
|If they started coding a new OS from scratch, they'd be back to square one. When you have something like 20 million lines of code, there will almost ALWAYS be bugs.
One of the great things about open source is that developers can focus on creating and bugfixing a small amount of the complete package, rather than having a set amount of people work on a large scale codebase.
Score: 0
|NT and Win2k were not related to Win3.1, Win95 or Win98 at all, they were and always have been seperate code bases. This only applies to the core OS however, I'm sure things like the shell and other bits and bobs were common between the 2 development streams...
Although it does not appear to be so, the NT/2K/XP codebase is much more secure that the wide open Win9x codebase. You onyl hear about 2K/XP exploits as it was touted by MS to be secure. I would have major concerns running Win9x on a internet connected machine these days... Times have changed...
Score: 0
|Why mac? Linux can kick mac a** anyday.
Score: 0
|you are a dreamer!!
Score: 0
|I'd love to get my hands on a G5, but the guys at Red vs Blue have convinced me that it might not be the greatest gaming platform...
http://www.redvsblue.com/appleswitch.shtml
: )
Score: 0
|Could we please just for once stop this crap with MAC vs PC? People will buy what they WANT to buy, not just because one is "better" than the other. In this day and age it's the perception of value that determines a consumer's choice to buy either a MAC or PC - not some opinion from a punk on the internet.
When the Windows source code is commonly available to rogue developers, I'm interested to see how this could effect the Linux community. I wonder if it would be possible to take the source code, recompile it under Linux, and have a true Emulator, or better intergration with Windows products on Linux. I know there's plenty of Windows Emulators on the market, however having something like this would make it seamless to the end user.
Score: 0
|You must be the most competent person on this entire forum(no sarcasm intended)Thank you for your valuable support.
Score: 0
|People will buy what they WANT to buy, not just because one is "better" than the other.
Dude, what are you smoking?
Windows sucks from a security standpoint, from an interoperability with other platforms standpoint, from a flexability standpoint, and several other key areas. Yet, I can't buy a Intel-based system with out windows from Dell, Gateway, HP, or anybody large for that matter. Even though I *WANT* to buy linux. Even in the windows vs mac debate, MacOS X is far superior to windows, yet has the same problems that linux has in a windows world... I wish I could buy what I want, and have it work the way I want it to. But sadly, I can't. Somewhere, somehow, there's windows affecting every network, and that's a really sad thing.
For the people who like it and choose to use it, good for them. That's their business. But why can't I have the same freedom to choose as them? Windows doesn't fit my needs. Hasn't in years. I doubt it ever will again. But I'm still forced to pay the Microsoft Tax.
Score: 0
|inhaling through an inflatable bag is more enlightening than harry pottering about this duckworld
Score: 0
|Poor linux zealot. Did they take away your lunch money and make you eat in the cafeteria in school? Those bas****s. Everyone is out to get you aren't they. Better go scream government conspiracy.
On a serious note. Linux will always be where it is right now until it becomes closed source, and corporate. Thats life. Anything free is just that. Not to mention I have to pay some a****** outrageous amounts of money to keep it running because its not as easy to moderate.
Score: 0
|You can all sit here and argue the toss about the merits, or otherwise, of one operating system or another if you like. As you do so, spare a thought or two for the efforts that governments and corporations around the world are putting into ensuring that you can have anything you want, if you have the money. And nothing if you don't.
Everything wants to be free. If this was not the case, nobody would need to go to such extreme lengths to make it not so.
Score: 0
|Poor linux zealot. Did they take away your lunch money and make you eat in the cafeteria in school? Those bas****s. Everyone is out to get you aren't they. Better go scream government conspiracy.
On a serious note. Linux will always be where it is right now until it becomes closed source, and corporate. Thats life. Anything free is just that. Not to mention I have to pay some a****** outrageous amounts of money to keep it running because its not as easy to moderate.
Score: 0
|Linux is currently being used by nearly as many corporations as Windows. It is currently being pushed by ALL of the big iron vendors. It is ultimately cheaper to run a Linux system than a Windows solution, unfortunately for you it requires using your mind to operate it.
Score: 0
|many people chose to buy Windows or Mac or Linux based on
what their friends and familay already are familiar with; this way they can get "free tech support".
if you are a novice, that kind of free help matters more than which OS is "better"; at least for a large number of (first time) computer buyers.
Score: 0
|Unfortunately, that's not possible.
It's a licensing issue. Since Linux emulators like WINE use the GP License, any other code added must be eligible as well.
Since Windows' code, whether leaked or otherwise, is still covered by MS' licenses, including even a snippet is out of the question.
Besides, the real reason emulators like WINE are always (and maybe will forever be) catching up is simply because there are several Windows versions to emulate and countless library calls that have to be adapted to the way Linux does things.
Score: 0
|i beleave this is just part of microsucks fud campain.in there suposed leaked none esential peace of windows soruse code. from a linux machine hence note"linux" machine. it will than be poked at and looked and several hunderd (lol not quite that many) large and small suposed security holes will be found by microsucks and fbi to fud down linux once more!!!!!!!!!
nothing sucks quite like microsucks!
Score: 0
|I'm not going to asking you what you are smoking.
Are you illiterate? Dell/HP/Gateway etc have sold desktops with no os' preinstalled for quite some time. They're listed as custom boxes.
People will buy what they want to buy. Does telling all your friends Linux is better than Windows really make a difference? Apparently not because Windows is still 90% of the market.
Run whatever os you want to run on your own stupid box and leave the rest of the world alone. We don't care about the Mac vs PC vs Nix debate.
Back to the point.. The code that was possibly leaked since it was a snippet would be pretty much useless unless a very good programmer took the time to read it and make sense of it all.
Microsoft isn't to blame for the insecurity of a Linux machine on their partners network. They may end up with the bad end of the stick when fixing it, but it wasn't their fault. And you're right, anything that is 20 million lines will have errors. Like the grammar on this message board.
Score: 0
|Guy Get back to Work
Score: 0
|are you stupid or something? quit smoking the crack wawadave jeez its people like you that make us normal people feel
ashamed to be human. why dont ya grow up and get a girlfriend whose name doesnt end with .jpg
Score: 0
|It would be interesting, if they use the window's source code, toghether with some Linux source code and create something that is as easy to use as windows, but as stable and amazing as Linux. And yes, I do know about Lindows.
Score: 0
|"It is ultimately cheaper to run a Linux system than a Windows solution, unfortunately for you it requires using your mind to operate it. "
Ha Ha, you should get your facts straight. According to independent studies Windows is actaully cheaper to run the Linux.
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/facts/analyses.asp
Score: 0
|Right, point to a Microsoft website and claim it to be fact. I'll use a reference from CIO information update to refute it. http://www.cioupdate.com/article.php/10493_1477911
;-)
Score: 0
|