[Info-vax] Intel x86-64 Processor Design Security Vulnerability?

[Neil Rieck]

On Thursday, January 4, 2018 at 7:38:23 AM UTC-5, Neil Rieck wrote:

[...snip...]

> I noticed that the security exploit only exists in some products from Intel and ARM but no products from AMD.
> 
> "Critical flaws revealed to affect most Intel chips since 1995"
> http://www.zdnet.com/article/security-flaws-affect-every-intel-chip-since-1995-arm-processors-vulnerable/
> 
> https://www.extremetech.com/computing/261364-massive-intel-cpu-bug-leaves-kernel-vulnerable-reduce-performance
>  
> Now anyone who has installed Linux recently already knows that there are processor-specific variants available for x86-64 technology (which is labelled AMD since that company developed 64-bit extensions first) so I wonder if this problem will be as difficult to fix as some doom-and-gloom types are already inferring.
>  
> (p.s. don't get me wrong; the flaws need to be fixed in order to prevent future developers from accidentally re-implementing a problem and/or someone infecting a system with flaw-specific malware) 
>  
> Neil Rieck
> Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
> http://neilrieck.net

Apologies and correction to my previous post. (articles behind the URLs posted have also been updated)

There are two CPU vulnerabilities in the wind these days with the names "Meltdown" and "Spectre" (I am assuming this second one has nothing to do with the James Bond / 007 stories)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/security-flaws-cpus-intel-arm-amd-spectre-meltdown-memory-1.4472675

https://meltdownattack.com/

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Now according to one site, only the Intel chips are susceptable to all variants. Check out these two quotes:

1) AMD said in a statement: "The threat and the response to the three variants differ by microprocessor company, and AMD is not susceptible to all three variants. Due to differences in AMD's architecture, we believe there is a near zero risk to AMD processors at this time."

2) British chipmaker ARM told news site Axios prior to this report that some of its processors, including its Cortex-A chips, are affected.
 
p.s. I find the first one amusing. Why? A buddy of mine has be trying to convince people for more that a decade that AMD stole IP from Intel. Well, if it is a case of outright theft then one would expect the AMD chips to suffer in the same way as the Intel chips :-)

Neil Rieck
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
http://neilrieck.net