There’s a reason why you just got a driver update for your HP notebook

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Looks like somebody forgot and left a keylogger sitting inside the Synaptics Touchpad driver, SynTP.sys. Full story by Catalin Cimpanu on bleeping com
[See the full post at: There’s a reason why you just got a driver update for your HP notebook]

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280park, JDeC

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I have the touch pad disabled, because I hate touch pads. However, to keep the computer up-to-date, I went to the site with the patch downloads. Guess what? The file is corrupted!!! I can’t install the new driver. Does anyone field check these updates anymore?

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HiFlyer

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Well.. once more it looks like I am having a login problem and am being put in “Anonymous” mode here.

So: OscarCP here.

I just want to express here my heartfelt thanks to Catalin Cimpanu of Bleeping Computer for showing the world which particular registry key has to be changed to hack my HP computer.

 

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Hey Woody did they fix/update KB4049016? The patch disappeared and reappeared and disappeared and reappeared over the last month. I read it is buggy and to be avoided. Now it has reappeared again should it be installed?- firemind.

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This update was generated on 7/23/1017 and was in HP critical update mails/alerts shortly afterwards. Tried to install the softpaq a couple of months ago but it screwed up the functions of my touchpad, so did a system restore to get rid of it. sp81836 BTW.

After seeing this article, decided to give it another go with a fresh download. Appears to have worked/installed and the correct software version shows in the Synaptics interface and device manager, etc. Only wrinkle, gave me a generic icon in the system tray rather than the pretty, red Synaptics one which used to be there. If any savvy IT person can tell me how to customize that system tray icon back to Synaptics, I’d be obliged!

Odd really as the icons appear in the interface and in Programs and Features…, just no longer on the tray icon. Maybe HP left it off???

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1. Try opening Control Panel.
2. Depending on your View by: settings you can search the Control Panel for Mouse. Click on the Mouse text or icon.
3. When the Mouse Properties dialog box opens, click on the Device Settings tab.
4. In theory* you should see a section named in fine print Tray Icon.
5. Click either the Static or Animated tray icon.
6. Click the Apply button.
7. Click the Okay button.

*It should be an available option, small version increments can bring big changes in software.

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Have to check this out with my wife’s Envy. Not surprised HP would be this careless, after all their other questionable moves with printer firmware and value added spyware. But can you find a PC maker who doesn’t do this sort of stuff these days?

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Windows Update lists “Synaptics – Mouse- 8/25/2017 12:00:00 17.0.18.25  70.8 MB” for my HP ProBook 4530s with Windows 7 64-bit.  The HP website lists “Synaptics TouchPad Drive 17.0.18.25 Rev.A 154.2 MB Sep 5, 2017”.

Do you still recommend downloading device updates such as this from the manufacturer’s website instead of from Windows Update?  Also, do you have any idea why the dates and sizes of these files are different?

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If possible, always you should get your drivers from the computer system manufacturer*. Windows drivers are different, sometimes buggy, may not be up-to-date, may have less features, and also have a cut-down interface.

In this case the of the Microsoft and HP Synaptics touch pad drives are likely different because Microsoft’s may have less features, for example the animated tutorials a user can view when configuring the touch pad.

*Sometimes you will have to install the driver provided by Windows because there isn’t another option or you have to install an often generic driver provided by the device manufacturer.

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woody, 280park

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OK, Houston…, we have a problem…

Regarding HP softpaq 81836 above, today the driver failed, no scroll or swipe. Really painful!

Did a system restore and then some digging I’d done before. Will be onto Zbook support tomorrow to escalate this issue and get an official response.

This softpaq installs v.19. From the Synaptics site, for Touchpad drivers, v.19 is for Win10 and there are two listed, the latter of which might close the back door, (for v19???). Just guessing. v.17 was for Win7, Win8.1, XP etc.

I’m back on v.18 which I recall updating in late 2014. Have to conclude that v.19 is not compatible with my hardware, Win7 Pro x64, or both!

And since v.18, which isn’t even listed on the Synaptics site but works fine here, is dated 8/8/2014, I wonder whether it even has the worrisome backdoor in the first place. This is the more basic Zbook workstation configuration and isn’t fully vPro.

Even though the HP bulletin lists Win7 and my model, not sure I believe it and whether this is CYA on HP’s part since this box is Win10-capable???

Maybe I’ll get an answer from HP or not… TBD.

Also, FWIW, the HP documentation appeared to indicate that this backdoor vulnerability exists only for someone with admin rights. Not clear on all the implications of that if someone would care to weigh in.

Hmmm… At least my slick machine is back to being slick. Will attempt to discover whether it even has this hole and whether it’s an actual threat…

Device info:

SGS Version: SGS 12.0; Synaptics LuxPad V1.6 on SMB Port; Driver Version: 18.1.24.4: Firmware Version: 1.6, Interface: SMB

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From HP’s website I downloaded SP81892, the driver package that HP indicates will plug the Synaptics touchpad keylogger vulnerability on my Probook 4530s (Windows 7 64-bit).  After downloading the file I double clicked it and got a pop up message to the effect that failure to uninstall the existing driver for the touchpad may hinder proper installation of the new one.

Having never installed a driver in this manner before I am wondering how I will be able to navigate around the computer after uninstalling the old driver so that I can install the new one.  Won’t the touchpad be useless after uninstalling the existing driver?

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In the Control Panel, Find Device Drivers, find the touchpad, you can uninstall the driver there.

Plug in a USB mouse or wireless mouse in the meantime.

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280park

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Update to the above on sp81836, etc., couldn’t get through to my usual rep at HP Business Support, Zbook. For giggles, decided to unhide the Synaptics Mouse update I’d been offered on Windows Update a couple of months ago and give it a whirl.

Wonder to behold, it installed correctly apparently, even the little red Synaptic icon in the system tray. The touchpad interface is unchanged and the install didn’t even change my customizations.

The HP driver update twice crashed in 24 hours after working OK initially. Will see whether finally this one is stable.

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^^^^^^^

OK, the v19 driver doesn’t work with my O/S and or hardware. Appointments and errands offsite this PM…, so will have to deal with this later or tomorrow.

Will get onto HP Business Support for Zbook and investigate whether the v18 driver update on here from 2014 is even vulnerable to the debug issue. Grrr… Will probably take a Level 3 to figure it out.

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I just checked HP for updates, but got nothing there about a Synaptics Touchpad update.

I checked the driver “Properties” in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers, and mine is a different version from the one listed in Bleeping Computer (which might not be for all HP models, anyhow). My driver dates back to 2011, when I bought this HP PC (Win 7 Pro, SP1 x64) laptop, although it says there that it was updated in 2014. That is all there is to be seen in there about this driver. I also did a search through the recovery points for older versions. Again: nothing. (Note: I have never updated anything from HP and have the Assistant with updates  set to “never check”, so I must got that update from MS, back when.)

The latest (I assume) HP list of affected models I have seen does not list my old Pavilion dv6t-6100 among the affected machines with a fix available. Also have checked with the installed HP Assistant for updates, any updates, and it came back with nothing for the Synaptics touchpad.

So now I am getting ready to sling my rifle and strap on several ammo belts with as many rounds as I can carry, with enough water and trekking chow for several days, and start heading for the hills to attempt to survive there, living off the land and fighting off intruders, the coming touchpad apocalypse. But I have some lingering doubts: Should I?

Besides, this touchpad is one of those infamous jump-all-over-the-place-when-I-am-typing-“because-it-can”-without-asking-me-first Synaptics’ touchpads, so I mostly use the mouse instead.

 

So: what should I do? Take to the hills, or not?

Please, anyone out there: Advise!

Thanks.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Just keep your thumb off the touchpad when you are typing (or tape an index card over it)! 

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Dear PKCano,

“Just keep your thumb off the touchpad when you are typing”

It is not that simple. I wished it was!

I already have, and had for a long time, the touchpad sensitivity set to nothing along with all its “smart” features as dumbed-down as humanly possible, and I do not touch it at all while typing. But none of this matters one bit — or provides only a slight mitigation at best.

What sets off the very annoying random jumps of the cursor are the vibrations produced by one’s fingers striking the keyboard while typing. This over sensitivity is a well known flaw of the Synaptics Touchpad. The Web is full of postings from people that have been complaining about this over the last many years.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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There are at least two solutions:

1. A soft solution is to disable the touch pad in Device Manager.
2. A hard solution is to learn how to disassemble your computer. You may be able find an matching service manual or close enough match for your model on a non dodgy site. Alternately you can take pictures and write notes of your progress while taking it apart. Find and gently release the flex cable from its connector. Cover the pins and connector opening with some some polyimide tape*. Reassemble your computer in reverse order.

3. Taking to the hills doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

*I don’t recommend using cellophane tape as it may become a conduit for static electricity. Some of the flat flex cables in a wide variety of electronics appear to be made using Kapton (polyimide film).

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OscarCP

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Too many feature leads to problems. Point, click (with real physical buttons), drag/drop, emulated mouse wheel. Why does a trackpad need more than that?

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OscarCP

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Someone may find the following helpful.

After posting some questions here and on the HP forums I also spoke with someone at HP Support about installing the new Synaptics touchpad driver for my HP Probook 4530s (Windows 7 64-bit).  I asked him about the pop-up message that I received the first time I started to run the HP package SP81892 that contained the new driver.  That message warned that the new driver might not install properly unless I uninstalled the old one first.  He said that that was not necessary and I went forward with the installation without uninstalling the old driver first.  As of now everything seems to be working fine.  The new driver is included in the list of programs in Windows Control Panel and in Windows Device Manager.  The snappy red Synaptics icon is included in the system tray, not a generic one.

I did not download the driver by clicking on the link in the HP list of affected computers that the Bleepingcomputer article referenced.  After determining that my computer is on the list I went to the HP general support page for my computer and found the new driver there.  I mention this because I seem to be having success with the installation and at least one other poster on the HP forums had better success by not downloading the driver from the HP list of affected computers.

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Finally got through to Zbook Business Support. v19 is still recommended but doesn’t play nice with Win7 Pro x64 and my hardware. The version of v18 onboard was listed as vulnerable but the previous v17 was not. So, we reverted to v17.0.18.24. Appears to work fine. Jury is out. v19 is definitely for Win10, but YMMV. Interface has the icon options mentioned by the poster above. v18 and later did not.

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Can report reversion to non-vulnerable v17 works with Win7 without any loss functionality.

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Thanks for the advice, Anonymous.

There is, among those other several solutions besides those two you describe in detail, the two I use myself (which one, depends on how I am feeling about it):

(1) Whenever I have some substantial writing to do, I plug in a mouse, which automatically turns off the touchpad.

When I am done writing, I unplug the mouse, thus re-enabling the touchpad, because I like using it for most everything I do on the laptop — other writing long texts. When writing long texts without the mouse, the jumpiness of the touchpad begins to interfere and just annoys me.

(2) Plug in an external keyboard, and keep using the touchpad: typing so produces vibrations that cannot reach the physically unconnected touchpad with enough energy to set it off. When done typing, unplug it and go back to using the laptop’s own keyboard.

It is possible, but I do not know this for a fact, that recent versions of the Synaptics hardware or software drivers could be free from this jumpy problem. That might explain the otherwise puzzling absence of peasants with torches and pitchforks visiting the manufacturer.

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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