Here's a pretty detailed description of these flaws: https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2018/01/reading-privileged-memory-with-side.html
On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 12:25 PM, Michael Cheponis < [email protected]> wrote: > Guys, modern CPUs are incredibly complicated. Incredibly. Given how > cheaply one can buy a CPU chip, it's one of the best bargains in the known > universe. > > From NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/business/ > computer-flaws.html?_r=0 > > > The Meltdown flaw is specific to Intel, but Spectre is a flaw in design > that has been used by many processor manufacturers for decades. It affects > virtually all microprocessors on the market, including chips made by AMD > that share Intel’s design and the many chips based on designs from ARM in > Britain. > > Spectre is a problem in the fundamental way processors are designed, and > the threat from Spectre is “going to live with us for decades,” said Mr. > Kocher, the president and chief scientist at Cryptography Research, a > division of Rambus. > > “Whereas Meltdown is an urgent crisis, Spectre affects virtually all fast > microprocessors,” Mr. Kocher said. An emphasis on speed while designing new > chips has left them vulnerable to security issues, he said. > > “We’ve really screwed up,” Mr. Kocher said. “There’s been this desire from > the industry to be as fast as possible and secure at the same time. Spectre > shows that you cannot have both.” > > On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 6:30 AM, Swift Griggs <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> On Wed, 3 Jan 2018, Chavdar Ivanov wrote: >> >>> Any comments in this part of the wood about >>> https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/intel_cpu_design_flaw/ ? >>> >> >> I have one. In my world, performance > security. I don't fully understand >> the internals of the issue. It sounds like some kind of MMU hardware flaw >> that can't be patched with microcode. The chosen fix appears to be some >> kind of more software-slanted memory protection. >> >> Nonetheless, as a user, can I get this as an *option* instead of forced >> down my throat? I didn't pay for my CPUs to turn off a third of it's >> performance. Ie.. >> >> "TAKE_A_BIG_PERFORMANCE_HIT_BECAUSE_SECURITY=true" >> >> That's my only real comment other than "this really sucks for all of us >> and I hope Intel's stock tanks accordingly." I just spent the last year >> learning assembler. I'm glad it was 68k not x86. >> >> -Swift >> > >
