Intel Kernel Memory Vulnerability

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#1929503 4-Jan-2018 22:08

freitasm:

Just received the Windows 10 update in two of my laptops.

Also, The Register has a "translation" for the Intel PR spin I posted above - worth reading it, really funny.

How is your machine running?

freitasm

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#1929506 4-Jan-2018 22:10

No different than before. But this is email/browser only. When companies talk "workload" they probably aren't talking about this. They are talking big servers, databases, etc.

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#1929516 4-Jan-2018 22:27

So gaming even if it's a game that uses CPU more is not likely to be noticeably slower?

I am guessing it is rolling out in waves..

freitasm

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#1929522 4-Jan-2018 22:49

It only gets worse...

Microsoft Windows Client Guidance:

Customers who only install the Windows January 2018 security updates will not receive the benefit of all known protections against the vulnerabilities. In addition to installing the January security updates, a processor microcode, or firmware, update is required. This should be available through your device manufacturer. Surface customers will receive a microcode update via Windows update.

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Starscream122

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#1929524 4-Jan-2018 22:53

freitasm:

It only gets worse...

Microsoft Windows Client Guidance:

Customers who only install the Windows January 2018 security updates will not receive the benefit of all known protections against the vulnerabilities. In addition to installing the January security updates, a processor microcode, or firmware, update is required. This should be available through your device manufacturer. Surface customers will receive a microcode update via Windows update.

Well that's what my BIOS update must have been ''Update Intel ME for security vulnerabilities''

Released 2017/12/05

Also what about older motherboards that no longer get updates?

Usually a motherboard only gets updates for a little over a year.

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#1929525 4-Jan-2018 23:00

Starscream122:

Well that's what my BIOS update must have been ''Update Intel ME for security vulnerabilities''

Nope. Intel ME is a completely different thing. It's not microcode.

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#1929527 4-Jan-2018 23:01

freitasm:

It only gets worse...

Microsoft Windows Client Guidance:

Executed the PowerShell listed in the above article from Microsoft and got this on my patched machine:

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kyhwana2

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#1929529 4-Jan-2018 23:14

Starscream122:
So then the issue lies with the OS not the CPU. so software fault

No, this is a CPU fault.

Starscream122

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#1929531 4-Jan-2018 23:20

Do intel not test their CPUs how did they not find this fault and it's been present on CPUs they've made for the last 10 years

10 years of faulty CPUs unbelievable

and they can't even replace them as they are still making faulty CPUs the only option is a software fix that will slow the system down.

djtOtago

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#1929534 4-Jan-2018 23:35

Just updated my older laptop.

tdgeek

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#1929571 5-Jan-2018 08:10

networkn:

djtOtago:

networkn:

How is this not already a class action lawsuit?

Against who? And for what?

A problem has been identified, and is being fixed.

Are you being serious? Against Intel for a bug which cannot be fixed without a performance hit.

Would you be so cavalier if you bought a car for 50K 2 weeks ago, and the manufacturer said they discovered a bug that couldn't be fixed properly, but as a work around it would stop the car reaching 100KM/h? To make it worse, they couldn't tell you yet how much slower you would be allowed to go, but the potential range was a max speed of 66KM/h through to 92KM/h?

Nope, I didn't think so.

Not that disimilar to the Apple issue. To stop older iPhones with well used batteries causing a crash, they have slowed the phone down. Not fixed the fault (too small a battery), but slowed the customers purchase down to make the fault not happen. There is a class action lawsuit for that

Yes, its not exactly the same, but Intel CPU power, iPhone power, your car power analogy are.

My 4 toast toaster keeps blowing a fuse, so they disconnected one, so now I paid for a 4 toast toaster but now have a 3 toast toaster.

I did not get what I paid for

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#1929572 5-Jan-2018 08:14

Mainstream media have picked up on the issue; for a change, the article is actually fairly well written, fairly accurate, and not very overly-dramatic.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/100320478/newlydiscovered-intel-flaw-will-slow-most-computers-sold-over-past-10-years

Which leads to the question “Who are you, and what have you done with Stuff?” :-)

They also have a consumer-friendly “advice” article (https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/100330369/intel-flaw-what-you-need-to-know); the main advice here is that consumers should “do nothing” in the short-term; the implication is that when patches are ready, your machine will auto-install them.

Personally, I’d have preferred a little more active advice like “check your machine is patched” or “ensure automatic updates are enabled” rather than “do nothing”; but I assume this will be pushed as a “critical” patch by Microsoft ???

Interesting that a microcode is required as well - that could take quite some time for many devices...

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#1929619 5-Jan-2018 09:26

FYI, for those with Windows machines, apparently the fix is disabled by default due to AntiVirus issues:

https://mobile.twitter.com/gossithedog/status/948833482784038912

freitasm

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#1929628 5-Jan-2018 09:43

Well this makes things even more complicated. From the link:

"In a default installation of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012 customers will not have an anti-virus application installed by default. In these situations, Microsoft recommends installing a supported anti-virus application such as Microsoft Security Essentials or a third-party anti-virus application"

Do you know how much server AV software costs? And are they recommending to buy the AV just to set the registry key?

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#1929631 5-Jan-2018 09:44

Linus Torvalds seems to not be happy with intel

https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/1/3/797

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