2017 HP / Conexant audio driver — MicTray keylogging to public MicTray.log (modzero disclosure)
Data compromised
Local keystroke histories and thus any typed secrets while MicTray was active—no centralized breach headcount
Technical writeup
Researchers at modzero disclosed that Conexant-signed audio helper components (`MicTray64.exe` / `MicTray.exe`) shipped on HP commercial laptops since late 2015 logged all keystrokes—often to `C:\Users\Public\MicTray.log`—under the guise of handling media hotkeys. PCMag and wider press treated it as negligent debug logging rather than targeted espionage, but the effect matched local keylogger behavior until HP/Conexant delivered updated driver packages. The issue is a canonical supply-chain software-quality case study for `hp` hardware estates.
Root cause
Debug/diagnostic keystroke logging left enabled in production Conexant audio driver builds distributed by HP