The issue, dubbed CVE-2022-38392 by The Mitre Corporation, affects “a certain 5400 RPM OEM hard drive, as shipped with laptop PCs in approximately 2005” from a certain unnamed manufacturer. When the laptop played “Rhythm Nation,” it and any of its nearby siblings would crash because the song uses some of the same “natural resonant frequencies” as the drives, thus interfering with their operation.
Why is Janet Jackson music causing some old laptops to crash?
Answer: Because she’s just that awesome ... and resonance.
Shutterstock/BossNid
Microsoft Software Engineer Raymond Chen published a blog post on Aug. 16 detailing how he discovered that “Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers.” Apparently, certain Windows XP laptops do not get along with Jackson’s 1989 hit “Rhythm Nation.”
The issue, dubbed CVE-2022-38392 by The Mitre Corporation, affects “a certain 5400 RPM OEM hard drive, as shipped with laptop PCs in approximately 2005” from a certain unnamed manufacturer. When the laptop played “Rhythm Nation,” it and any of its nearby siblings would crash because the song uses some of the same “natural resonant frequencies” as the drives, thus interfering with their operation.
According to Chen, the issue had been discovered and partially resolved at the time that the laptops were in widespread use.
The issue, dubbed CVE-2022-38392 by The Mitre Corporation, affects “a certain 5400 RPM OEM hard drive, as shipped with laptop PCs in approximately 2005” from a certain unnamed manufacturer. When the laptop played “Rhythm Nation,” it and any of its nearby siblings would crash because the song uses some of the same “natural resonant frequencies” as the drives, thus interfering with their operation.
