The dump seems to contain a number of Windows 10 builds from the advancement of codenamed Redstone 2. Redstone 2 was released beginning this year, branded as the Creators Update.
Some of those builds are built for 64-bit ARM chipsets, and some are said to include special debug symbols. Microsoft routinely releases debug models for Windows. these symbols contain supplementary information not found in the compiled Windows binaries because it helps software developers know which functions their code is calling. The symbols normally released are public symbols while they recognize many functions and data structures, they don’t include information about each function’s variables or arguments. The private symbols, in contrast, include much more comprehensive information, giving much more perspicacity into what each piece of code is doing and how it’s doing it.
The leak is further described as containing a reference code package named the “Shared Source Kit.” This is a bundle of source code for things like the USB, storage, and Wi-Fi stacks, and the Plug-and-Play operation. It isn’t the core operating system code but preferably contains those parts of the driver stack that third parties have to interact most closely with.
Finally, this leak is said to contain variants of the Windows 10 “Mobile Adaptation Kit,” which is used to group system images for Windows on phones.
The source of the leaks is currently anonymous, though theorized to have been Microsoft’s own systems. The Register and other journals suggest that the source code leak will be of grave security consequence that the insignificant publication of parts of the Windows source will unleash a bombardment of attacks. The Windows 2000 code leak did not resemble to result in a spate of exploits, and today’s Windows code is likely to be in rather better shape than that of 2004.
BetaArchive says that it has removed the Shared Source Kit from its servers in response to The Register’s article. It also alleges that the private beta builds come from an array of sources, not any one singular leak. BetaArchive also says that the leaks are dubious to be linked to arrests made in the UK of two men over ideas to hack into Microsoft.
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