Security News > 2023 > May > Surprise! Coldplay lyrics hidden in Kingston SSD firmware

Surprise! Coldplay lyrics hidden in Kingston SSD firmware
2023-05-10 14:13

What has firmware got to do with pop rock, you ask? That's the question that crossed a security researcher's mind as he analyzed Kingston's firmware and stumbled upon the lyrics of a popular Coldplay song buried deep within it.

The researcher, surprised by this finding, reached out to BleepingComputer disclosing the details of the firmware version-and the Coldplay song.

Iowa-based security researcher Nicholas Starke reached out to BleepingComputer after he analyzed a few bytes of an SSD controller firmware distributed by Kingston that left him astonished.

"I found Coldplay lyrics in SSD controller firmware," Starke told BleepingComputer after analyzing Kingston firmware versioned "SKC2000 S2681103."

BleepingComputer downloaded the firmware file from Kingston's official website and confirmed that it contained strings comprising lyrics of Coldplay's 2002 hit, The Scientist.

"I've seen many many firmware images in my time and this just seemed out of place," said the researcher who admits to never seeing anything "Quite like it" especially in deeply embedded component firmware; a hard disk controller, like this one.


News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/surprise-coldplay-lyrics-hidden-in-kingston-ssd-firmware/