Intel has an especially good history lately when it comes to security flaws being found inside its processors. I doubt AMD had quite a few problems here and there, but I think it would be fair and effective to say that Intel was the most notable and prolific of both of the two.
Sadly, for now in the majority of cases when these security flaws are discovered, general consumers like you and me have little to worry about. For media outlets it’s possible to jump onto a platform to advance the hyperbole train and predict the imminent demise of online security. Since a new security issue is not known to be able to affect Intel 10th, 11th, and even their latest 12th-gen processors, I think most can appreciate it that this isn’t to be sniffed at.
Although the problem is not apparent in the whole, you’ll have much more a big advantage if you have already done this, as it seems. Those of you who are possible in business, and especially those that may also use cloud encoding, surely deserve some attention.
Intel Inc. found a new Firewall for Security in CPUs.
The reason for the huge majority of you probably don’t worry about this new security flaw is its specific targets for users who are dependent on Intels SGX to protect data from outside attackers who have obtained system privileges. No, it’s not impossible if a generic user can’t be targeted in that way, but the bottom line is that this is a major problem for businesses. For all, the key focus of the PIC Leak exploit is that it is the first confirmed instance of a CPU bug that can be used to aesthetically disclose sensitive data.
PIC Leak is the first processor bug to be used to disclose sensitive data in the architecture. It leverages the vulnerability of Intel CPUs in recent years to steal the secrets of the processor itself: in most 10th, 11th and 12th generation Intel CPUs the undefined range of APIC MMIO stale data returns incorrectly from the cache hierarchy. In contrast to in-between events like Meltdown and Spectre, PIC Leak is a structural bug: sensitive data is directly disclosed without relying on a nebulous side channel. PIC Leak is like an uninitialized memory read inside the CPU itself.
A privileged attacker (Administrator or root) must access the APIC MMIO. It’s very effective to protect computer programs from Leaks. However, systems, relying on SGX to protect data from privileged attackers, would have to be risky, therefore, should be patched.
Where can I learn more?
If you want to see the vulnerabilities in the world, you have a demonstration posted online that you can look at here. If, from here you can read the full document (which I’ll warn you now is a little dry and exceptionally technical).
There is a fix for Intel at some point. As soon as they received the initial reports, since it was December 20, 2021, it seems obvious that there’s no quick answer to that issue. Now again, is there ever?
Users advised they can remove the security risks by disabling APIC MMIO or by not using (using) SGX instead of using them. Of course that is me. Even my technical knowledge can have limitations.
As before, what did you advice about 99.9% of your readers reading this – in conjunction with Intel processors -? Just keep calm, and continue!
What do you think?