A newly published zero-day exploit allows attackers with physical access to bypass BitLocker encryption on Windows 11 devices in seconds. The attack, named YellowKey, targets the default TPM-only configuration and grants full access to encrypted drives via a simple USB-based method.
The exploit was released earlier this week by a researcher using the alias Nightmare-Eclipse. It works by placing a custom FsTx folder on a USB drive formatted as NTFS or FAT. After connecting the drive and forcing entry into Windows Recovery, the system opens a command prompt with unrestricted access to the drive contents, bypassing the usual BitLocker recovery key requirement.
