Jesse Homa 01/04/2018
1 Minutes

It was announced that a major flaw was found within Intel CPU chips that can allow applications on your machine or even javascript web applets to reach into areas of protected memory and read their contents.  This vulnerability is a flaw in the design itself of how the chip handles protected memory and the fix is stated to slow down machines due to how the fix needs to be implemented.

 If you have any questions regarding your computer and this recent news, contact Cyber Advisors. The orginal article can be found on The Register.


Kernel-memory-leaking Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign

The Register - By John Leyden and Chris Williams

Final update A fundamental design flaw in Intel's processor chips has forced a significant redesign of the Linux and Windows kernels to defang the chip-level security bug.

Programmers are scrambling to overhaul the open-source Linux kernel's virtual memory system. Meanwhile, Microsoft is expected to publicly introduce the necessary changes to its Windows operating system in an upcoming Patch Tuesday: these changes were seeded to beta testers running fast-ring Windows Insider builds in November and December.

Crucially, these updates to both Linux and Windows will incur a performance hit on Intel products. The effects are still being benchmarked, however we're looking at a ballpark figure of five to 30 per cent slow down, depending on the task and the processor model. More recent Intel chips have features – such as PCID – to reduce the performance hit. Your mileage may vary.

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