Meltdown

Pierluigi Paganini March 05, 2018
SgxPectre attack allows to reveal the content of the SGX enclave

A group of researchers from the Ohio State University has discovered a new variation of the Spectre attack named SgxPectre that allows to reveal the content of the SGX enclave. A group of researchers from the Ohio State University has discovered a new variation of the Spectre attack named SgxPectre. Intel Software Guard eXtensions (SGX) is a technology […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 03, 2018
Microsoft released Windows Updates that include Intel’s Spectre microcode patches

Microsoft announced this week the release of the microcode updates to address the Spectre vulnerability. Last week Intel released microcode to address the CVE-2017-5715Spectre vulnerability for many of its chips, let’s this time the security updates will not cause further problems. The Spectre attack allows user-mode applications to extract information from other processes running on the same system. It can also […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 23, 2018
Meltdown patch for OpenBSD is available … let’s wait for feedbacks

OpenBSD releases Version 11 code update that addresses the Meltdown vulnerability by implementing the separation between the kernel and the user memory pages. OpenBSD addresses the Meltdown vulnerability with the release of a Version 11 code. The update implements the separation between the kernel and the user memory pages. OpenBSD’s Phillip Guenther provided further details on the implementation. “When […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 21, 2018
Intel releases Spectre patches for Skylake, Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake

Intel released a stable microcode update to address the Spectre vulnerability for its Skylake, Kaby Lake, and Coffee Lake processors in all their various variants. Intel has released microcode to address the CVE-2017-5715 Spectre vulnerability for many of its chips, let’s this time the security updates will not cause further problems. The Spectre attack allows user-mode applications to extract information […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 14, 2018
Windows Analytics now includes Meltdown and Spectre detector

Good news for administrators of Windows systems, Microsoft has added a Meltdown-and-Spectre detector to its telemetry analysis tool Windows Analytics. Microsoft has added a Meltdown-and-Spectre detector to its telemetry analysis tool Windows Analytics. The Meltdown-and-Spectre detector was available since Tuesday when Microsoft announced the new capabilities implemented in the free Windows Analytics service.  The new capabilities allow […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 10, 2018
VMware releases temporary mitigations for Meltdown and Spectre flaws

VMware has provided detailed instruction on how to mitigate the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities in several of its products. VMware is releasing patches and workarounds for its Virtual Appliance products affected by the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. The Meltdown and Spectre attacks could be exploited by attackers to bypass memory isolation mechanisms and access target sensitive […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 30, 2018
Intel reportedly alerted Chinese companies before US Government about Meltdown and Spectre flaws

According to the Wall Stree Journal, Intel reportedly alerted Chinese companies before US Gov about Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. There is no peace for Intel, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal the company warned Chinese tech giants about the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities before notifying them to the US government. Citing unnamed […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 29, 2018
Over the weekend Microsoft rolled out out-of-band updates to disable mitigations for Spectre v2 attacks

Over the weekend, Microsoft rolled out out-of-band updates to disable mitigations for one of the Spectre attack variants because they can cause systems to become unstable. The situation is becoming embarrassing! Just after the release of the Meltdown and Spectre security updates Intel excluded any problems for their deployments citing testing activities of conducted by other tech […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 23, 2018
Linus Torvalds calls the Linux Spectre patches “UTTER GARBAGE”

The popular Linus Torvalds harshly criticizes the Spectre patches issued by Intel to patch the Spectre variant 2 flaw affecting its processor chips. Security experts harshly criticize the patch issued by Intel to patch the Spectre variant 2 flaw affecting its processor chips. Intel has decided to do not disable the prediction feature in future chips until the […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 17, 2018
Oracle January 2018 Critical Patch Update also addresses Spectre and Meltdown

Oracle rolled out the January 2018 Critical Patch Update that includes 237 security fixes in its products, the majority of which is remotely exploitable without authentication. The January 2018 Critical Patch Update also includes security updates that address Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. “The January 2018 Critical Patch Update provides fixes for certain Oracle products for the […]