Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities Intel (and AMD) Chip Bug

Anonymous
2018-01-04T01:54:57+00:00

A lot of noise on the internet, after Intel confirm that chips have a bug:

https://newsroom.intel.com/news/intel-responds-to-security-research-findings/ 

This post is to bring some light on this.

1- Intel says is not only their chips affected

2- PCID (Process-Context Identifiers), a chip feature,  has a bug that allow apps (malware) to read data

3- Process-context identifiers (PCIDs) are a facility by which a logical processor may cache information for multiple linear-address spaces. The processor may retain cached information when software switches to a different linear address space with a different PCID.

4- Macintosh and Linux OS are also affected.

Rumors:

1- If you have Haswell (4th-gen) or newer, PCID (Process-Context Identifiers) is enabled. 

2- After apply the patch, performance is going to be slower on newer CPU. Around 5 to 10%.

2- Still if you have older CPU, performance will be affected worse than newer CPUs.

3- To be affected you must have a OS 64 bits. {Correction: 32bits has vulnerability, MS still working on this)

Just as I'm writing this, Linus Torvalds and his team are working on this too:

https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/1/2/703

https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/20180102222354.qikjmf7dvnjgbkxe%40alap3.anarazel.de

Can we get a word from Microsoft?

For windows, What patch is going to address this? (Update: Patch links and KB are listed on postings)

Is that is going to be on the Montly Rollup and/or Security only patches? (Update: See the links posted)

If performance is going to suffer, can we be able to uninstall such patch? (Update: Microsoft published a document about it, See the links posted)

Please, any info will be appreciated.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-05T00:39:33+00:00

    Which Intel-based platforms are affected by or vulnerable to the issue? 

    The following Intel-based platforms are impacted by this issue. Intel may modify this list at a later time. 

    Please check with your system vendor or equipment manufacturer for more information regarding your system.

    Intel® Core™ i3 processor (45nm and 32nm)

    Intel® Core™ i5 processor (45nm and 32nm)

    Intel® Core™ i7 processor (45nm and 32nm)

    Intel® Core™ M processor family (45nm and 32nm)

    2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors

    3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors

    4th generation Intel® Core™ processors

    5th generation Intel® Core™ processors

    6th generation Intel® Core™ processors

    7th generation Intel® Core™ processors

    8th generation Intel® Core™ processors

    Intel® Core™ X-series Processor Family for Intel® X99 platforms

    Intel® Core™ X-series Processor Family for Intel® X299 platforms

    Intel® Xeon® processor 3400 series

    Intel® Xeon® processor 3600 series

    Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series

    Intel® Xeon® processor 5600 series

    Intel® Xeon® processor 6500 series

    Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v2 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v3 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v4 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v5 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v6 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v2 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v3 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v4 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v2 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v3 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v4 Family

    Intel® Xeon® Processor Scalable Family

    Intel® Xeon Phi™ Processor 3200, 5200, 7200 Series

    Intel Atom® Processor C Series

    Intel Atom® Processor E Series

    Intel Atom® Processor A Series

    Intel Atom® Processor x3 Series

    Intel Atom® Processor Z Series

    Intel® Celeron® Processor J Series

    Intel® Celeron® Processor N Series

    Intel® Pentium® Processor J Series

    Intel® Pentium® Processor N Series

    For latest list, see:

    Facts about The New Security Research Findings and Intel Products

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-04T15:56:56+00:00

    More info on this.

    The KB that address this is KB4056892.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4056892/windows-10-update-kb4056892

    Now, the BAD news: Some Antivirus have issues with this KB. 

    Due to the nature of the bug, some anti-virus applications do unsupported calls into kernel memory, that lead to a nasty BSOD (Blue Screen of Dead).

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4072699/important-information-regarding-the-windows-security-updates-released

    Microsoft went safe and only install patches with certified Antivirus.

    Antivirus need to update their engines.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-04T17:01:07+00:00

    Once more...just to be clear. This is not a virus.

    This is a bug.

    It is not really that big an issue at the moment though it is expected to be in the future.

    The Microsoft Cumulative Security Update that addresses this is available NOW.

    Just go to settings and click update. Then check for updates.

    Also visit HP, Dell, any manufacturer of your device's website for other updates involving MELTDOWN and/or SPECTRE.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-04T21:28:53+00:00

    Just meant as an info... because IMO below articles are worth reading and contain lots of further info/links:

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-01-04T16:50:12+00:00

    At least for Symantec AV, they recommend to update to ERASER Engine 117.3.0.358 (or greater), after that, KB patch applies without problem:

    If you don't. you will see  "Product Error requires attention" and the SEP system tray icon to report "There are multiple problems (2)".

    https://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/latest-win10-update-corrupts-sep14

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