Enthusiast hacked a laptop's BIOS using Claude Code and unlocked 55 hidden settings
Laptops with locked BIOS sometimes sell for low prices because of the restrictions that this kind of firmware protection creates. A user of the Claude AI shared the process that let them successfully unlock an HP 15-dw1036ne.
A new owner of a laptop with locked BIOS usually can't bypass the password or PIN at startup, nor change any BIOS settings. It all depends on the type of lock implemented. There was a time when pulling the CMOS battery could reset the BIOS and remove these restrictions, but laptop manufacturers have used far more robust protection for a while now.
In this case, the laptop in question is an HP 15-dw1036ne, a model with a 10th-gen Intel processor from the early part of this decade. It looks like a consumer model, so the previous owner likely set a power-on password that somehow never got passed along to the final buyer. The exact type of lock wasn't specified, though, so it could have also been an administrative BIOS lock.
Locks like this aren't as strict as what's possible on HP commercial laptops, where BIOS protection can even be tied to the system TPM. The enthusiast's model shipped with BIOS version F.68. He had access to a CH341A chip programmer and tools for disassembling code, but the system threw up a "BIOS Corruption Detected" message whenever it detected any changes. That check was what made the hack so difficult. This is where Claude Code came in.
Searching for examples or details on a successful BIOS unlock for this specific HP model turned up nothing. So the tinkerer asked Claude Code to analyze a backup BIOS dump and try to unlock it. Long story short, it worked.
The enthusiast shared technical details on the three layers of patches needed to unlock the BIOS:
- bypassing the RSA-2048 DXE-FV signature check
- unlocking 55 hidden setup fields
- revealing advanced BIOS configuration tabs
The important part is that Claude Code handled these bytes, and now the owner has a fully unlocked BIOS on his HP laptop. The Python script that runs the whole process on this specific model can be downloaded and tried out. It backs up the current BIOS, applies all three patches, and leaves the HP 15-dw1036ne unlocked.
Keep in mind the script might not work on a different laptop, even if it's an HP, even if it's the same 15-dw1036ne model, or if there are differences like a different board revision.
Still, this case shows that laptops with locked BIOS access and no known workaround can now be fully unlocked with the help of AI.
