Complete explanation of the underlying vulnerability of Intel CPUs: No mobile phone/computer in the world is spared

↑↑↑ Left: Meltdown Right: Spectre

1. Which systems are affected?

Windows, Linux, macOS, Amazon AWS, and Google Android are all in the market.

2. In addition to Intel processors, what other hardware is affected?

ARM's Cortex-A architecture and AMD processors. Cortex-A is currently widely used in mobile phone SoC platforms, including Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, etc.

Although AMD claims that its processors are basically immune to three attack methods based on Google's research. But Daniel Gruss (Technical University of Graz, Austria), co-discoverer of the Spectre vulnerability, said that his simulation of Spectre code attacks based on AMD processors was quite successful and should not be underestimated.

3. How to fix it?

Intel recommends paying attention to subsequent chipset updates and motherboard BIOS updates, but first, OS-level patches should be applied.

For the Meltdown vulnerability:Linux has released KAISER, macOS has been fixed from 10.13.2, Google claims to have been fixed, Win10 Insider fixed it at the end of last year, and Win10 Fall Creators updateA KB4056892 was released this morningwill force automatic installation.

Amazon also announced itGuidance program。

For the more difficult Spectre vulnerability, it is still being tackled.

4. Is Windows 7/XP affected?

Microsoft promised to help Win7 fix it on the next patch day, but it was not mentioned whether it would benefit XP.

5. Is the patching performance affected?

Researcher Gruss said he could not give an exact conclusion about this, but it was confirmed from the wording of Intel's statement that there would be a performance loss.

Forbes said that the greater impact on performance is Intel's old processors from 1995 to 2013, up to 50%, which has been almost imperceptible since the Skylake generation.

6. So what losses have these vulnerabilities caused?

Since both vulnerabilities are skipping access to system-level memory, they may cause the leakage of protected passwords and sensitive information.

But Forbes learned that at present, there has not been any real-world attack, and all the deductions come from local code simulations.

Therefore, it seems serious, but it can actually be understood as a victory in safety research. Researchers say that vulnerabilities need to be attached to specific processes to be activated on personal computers, such as implanted through phishing software.

7. Is antivirus software effective?

It can be understood in conjunction with Article 6 that in real-world attacks, the binary comparison method may be discovered in advance, but it is inconclusive.