Security researchers have disclosed new "Plug and Pwn" attacks that abuse the Windows Plug and Play feature to trigger Windows into installing vulnerable or insecure vendor software and gain SYSTEM privileges. The research, presented at DEF CON 34 by security researchers Alejandro Hernando and Borja Martínez, exploits how Windows automatically identifies new connected hardware, locates matching driver packages, and installs vendor software as the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account. By using software to emulate USB devices, the researchers found they could force Windows to install signed vendor packages containing exploitable components or weaknesses that can be abused to gain SYSTEM privileges. Some of the demonstrated attacks require no user interaction or logged-in user, while another can be…