I'm wondering if it is feasible for an OS to return control back to the bootloader, and boot a second OS after itself.

Reason being -- I've been musing on bootkits, and wondering if it would be possible for a bootloader to run a micro-linux distribution hidden at the end of the drive (that charades as a slowly booting Windows install) that, after running its payload, returns control back to Windows boot.

From the point of view of the user, it would just be a very slow boot. It could even be made to look like it's just Windows going through a pre-boot update process.

As far as I can tell, this would just require the hidden malicious OS to be able to pass control back to a bootloader.

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    $\begingroup$ I'm not sure how this is a computer science question; it seems about how to abuse real technology. Maybe it's a better fit for Information Security but I'm not familiar with their scope. $\endgroup$ – Raphael Jul 4 '16 at 22:59
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, it's possible. Bootloaders and operating systems are just code, like any other code. $\endgroup$ – Robert Harvey Jul 5 '16 at 0:47

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