BleachBit 6.0.4 fixes secure wiping that skipped clusters on Windows
BleachBit version 6.0.4 has been released to address a bug that caused secure file wiping to skip clusters on Windows systems. The update also improves privacy by clearing dynamic HSTS data in several browsers and adds security measures for file handling.
Why it matters
This update is critical for users relying on the software for data security, as the previous bug potentially left sensitive data fragments recoverable on disk.
BleachBit 6.0.4 fixes secure wiping that skipped clusters on Windows The open source cleaner BleachBit reached version 6.0.4 this week, erasing caches, browser traces, and files on Windows, Linux, and now macOS.
If you shredded a sensitive file on Windows with an earlier build, parts of it may still sit on the disk where the wipe missed. Fragmentation is the ordinary case, since Windows scatters a file across noncontiguous clusters whenever it cannot find one open run large enough to hold it.
The release does not say which versions carried the bugs or how much of a given file survived, so there is no way to work back from a version number to a list of files at risk. Re-shredding an original is impossible once it is gone, which leaves wiping free space on the affected drives.
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