Only two weeks after its previous 2.0.4 release, Fwupd, an open-source utility designed to make updating firmware on Linux-based systems easier and more automatic, rolled out its new 2.0.5 version.
On the new features side, this release includes the ability to emulate devices that read EFI keys and an option to skip certain device tests by CPU architecture.
Moreover, the fwupd team has been busy squashing a range of bugs that previously impacted user workflows. Some of the most notable fixes involve:
- Cleaning up Dell Kestrel devices when disconnected
- Correctly building binary EFI_SIGNATURE_LIST objects
- Disallowing dbx updates when no EFI System Partition (ESP) is available
- Ignoring BootXXXX entries that do not exist when checking the dbx
- Skipping zero-sized or malformed EFI binaries during updates
- Inhibiting dbx updates if snapd is not present on Ubuntu-style full disk encryption setups
- Matching the device checksum only when the protocol aligns
- Raising authentication requirements for the emulation-load process
- Requesting uploads of failed reports for install or downgrade attempts
- Adopting the kernel architecture when constructing the dbx instance IDWriting sbatlevel to PE/COFF files correctly
On top of these improvements, fwupd 2.0.5 extends hardware support to cover additional ELAN Fingerprint readers and the Star Labs StarLite Magnetic Keyboard.
For more details on all novelties, see the changelog.
