“The biggest breakthrough in Windows and Office piracy”: hackers hacked the Microsoft licensing system

The hacker group Massgrave has announced the creation of an exploit that allows you to bypass the Microsoft licensing system and activate almost all modern versions of the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite. The exploit supports activation through the Key Management Services (KMS) cloud service, which greatly simplifies its use in a corporate environment and further compromises the fundamental security of licensed Microsoft products.

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Massgrave claims the exploit is capable of activating a wide range of Microsoft products, including Windows Vista, Windows 11, Windows Server 2025 and modern versions of Office. On Platform X, hackers called their exploit “the biggest breakthrough in Windows/Office piracy ever.”

Their Microsoft Activation Scripts project has already gained popularity due to its reliability and ease of use. The new activation method, which hackers call revolutionary, allows you to bypass almost the entire security scheme underlying the Windows and Office licensing model without changing system files or installing third-party software. Massgrave claims that the exploit covers not only current versions of Windows and Office, but also Extended Security Updates (ESU) program licenses. This allows you to extend the period for receiving security updates for Windows 10, which will end of official support in October 2025.

On the Reddit platform, Massgrave representatives clarified that the tool is being finalized, and its final version will be presented in the coming months. According to the hackers, their technique is especially effective for older versions of Windows, which are widely used in corporate environments. However, as the developers of the exploit note, in some scenarios preference should still be given to traditional methods, such as HWID activation (linking a license to a unique computer hardware identifier), since they have a number of advantages.

Microsoft is likely already aware of the exploit, but has not yet taken active steps to eliminate it. The company’s main focus is on the development of key areas such as Azure cloud services, monetization through advertising and the implementation of solutions based on generative AI. Maintaining legacy digital rights management (DRM) code for licensed products appears to have ceased to be a corporate strategic priority, allowing hackers to find and exploit security vulnerabilities in licensed software.

In theory, fixing this vulnerability is possible, but it will require significant resources. Given the company’s strategic focus on the development of cloud technologies and AI, such changes in the near future look unlikely.