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Alex Halderman and I have confirmed that Sony’s Web-based XCP uninstallation utility exposes users to serious security risk. Under at least some circumstances, running Sony’s Web-based uninstaller opens a huge security hole on your computer. We have a working demonstration exploit.

We are working furiously to nail down the details and will report our results here as soon as we can. [UPDATE (Nov. 15): We have now posted more details.]

In the meantime, we recommend strongly against downloading or running Sony’s Web-based XCP uninstaller.

Kudos to Muzzy for first suggesting that such a hole might exist.

UPDATE: If you’re technically sophisticated, and you have run the XCP uninstaller on your computer, you may be able to help us in our investigations. It won’t take long. Please contact Alex to volunteer. Thanks.