• NotNotMike@programming.dev
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    2 months ago

    I mean, I’m not much of a tinfoil hat, but this article feels extremely conveniently timed for Intel, who is currently going through a massive ordeal with their chips. Especially considering that the vulnerability is so extremely difficult to exploit that there’s borderline no story here for 99% of people but the headline will still drive clicks and drama.

    • Drathro@dormi.zone
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      2 months ago

      Difficult to exploit, already in the process of being patched. Truly, the most breaking of news.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Most likely. Windows update (or the Linux equivalent on your platform) will download updated microcode to load at boot time to basically be a software patch for hardware issues. At least, that’s how it was explained when the original speculative execution flaw was discovered and Intel was releasing foxes and shit for it.

          • Amanda@aggregatet.org
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            2 months ago

            and Intel was releasing foxes and shit

            I realise this is an autocorrect error, but it’s still funny 🦊

        • Drathro@dormi.zone
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          2 months ago

          On windows the article mentioned being a microcode patch via Windows update. Linux would be similar- but via a kernel update most likely. I’d assume that a general BIOS update would also do the trick, but then you’re relying on motherboard vendors and it’s unlikely many would provide such an update to older hardware, even if it’s still widely used.

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Intel has literally done this, and stuff like it before.

      They back “independent” researchers who twist themselves in knots to make AMD look bad.

      Look up the multiple counts of bullshit from a “research group” called Principled Technologies.

      Sidenote: the guy who ran it was Ryan Shrout, who used to work for PC Perspective, and would usually give favourable reviews to Intel. After leaving Principled Technologies, he became head of technical marketing at… drumroll… Intel!

      Principled Technologies isn’t the only scam “independent researcher” Intel has set up or paid handsomely either.

    • heavy@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      I loathe what part of the security community has become with the stunt hacking and vuln naming. That being said, I doubt it’s some conspiracy. I don’t know all the details but it wouldn’t be exceptional to identify a bug that has existed in processor firmware or legacy code for a long time.

      People are looking at this stuff all the time, both professionally and for fun. You could make the case that it’s inevitable that there will be exploits found that affect a huge population.

      In the end, as long as the layman gets smarter about computer security, the better people will react to vuln drops.

    • sudo42@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Not too unusual. There have been a lot of new vulnerabilities announced lately. A few months ago they announced one that exposed all (?) mainstream CPUs, even Apple’s new chips.
      Some of the vulns are serious, but many require very specific circumstances to actually work.

    • megaman@discuss.tchncs.de
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      2 months ago

      The folks who found it are presenting at Defcon this weekend, according to the article.

      I imagine some of the industry press (i.e. Wired) are just looking through the Defcon agenda to figure out what to write. I saw two or three other articles about hacks or exploits and things like that that also mentioned it was bring presented at Defcon.

    • beefbot@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 months ago

      Every last news article you see, you must ask: who benefits from this article’s appearance?

      It’s not just judges who can be bought.

    • ruse8145@lemmy.sdf.org
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      2 months ago

      Was there a real user risk to any of the flaws since heart bleed? Or did people mostly want to hate on Intel? I’m no tinfoil hatter either I’m just asking questions.

      🙄

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        13th and 14th generation Intel processors can be physically damaged and degrade over time on the latest issue from Intel.

        • auzy@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yep. Reminds me of when ubiquiti damaged the radios on the unifi pro through dodgy firmware.

          We ended up replacing them all just in case because we didn’t want customers affected

          The Intel issue is far worse because they’re not even patching it quickly, and it is slowly frying cpus

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    Requires kernel-level access. Also AMD is “releasing mitigations,” so is it “unfixable?”

    • Drathro@dormi.zone
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      2 months ago

      I think they meant it as “once infected may be impossible to disinfect.” But it sure doesn’t read that way at first glance.

      • WHYAREWEALLCAPS@fedia.io
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        2 months ago

        Did they change it? Because now it says “Allows Deep, Virtually Unfixable Infections” and that seems to say exactly what you are.

        • psud@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Surely one could use the same exploit to restore the original boot code as the malware used to corrupt it

    • Bjornir@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      If you have kernel access you can already do almost everything so a vulnerability on top of that isn’t that bad since no one should have kernel access to your computer

      • dosse91@lemmy.trippy.pizza
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        2 months ago

        It means it’s what we in the trade call “a nothingburger”. On Windows you need to explicitly install a malicious driver (which in turn requires to you to disable signature verification), on Linux you’d have to load a malicious kernel module (which requires pasting commands as root, and it would probably be proprietary since it has malware to hide and as every nvidia user knows, proprietary kernel modules break with kernel updates)

        • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          So install a multiplayer game, it has kernel level anticheat that opens a bunch of security holes, game over.

          Kernel level access is absolutely achievable in the real world.

        • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
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          2 months ago

          No, it does not mean you would need to do that.

          The more likely scenario is an attacker using another vulnerability, either in the OS itself or in a vendor-supplied component like a driver or anti-cheat module, to gain a foothold for this one. Chaining exploits is a very common technique. (What “trade” are you in, exactly?)

          Apply the mitigations when they become available for your hardware, folks.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          This article should say, with this one easy hack you can control an AMD users PC, all you gotta do is break into their home at 10pm right before they log off from browsing reddit and bam access.

      • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        It means that a malicious actor would already need to have hacked your computer quite deeply through some other vulnerability (or social engineering) before they could take advantage of this one. But I don’t agree with another commenter here that this is a “nothingburger”: this vulnerability enables such a hacker to leave undetectable malware that you just can’t remove from the computer even if you replace everything but the motherboard. That’s significant, particularly for anyone who might be a target of cyber-espionage.

  • Justin@lemmy.jlh.name
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    2 months ago

    Similar vulnerability threat as the Intel ME bug. Annoying for security-critical applications where you start worrying about hardware security, but virtually no real-world threat. Might be useful for users wishing to disable security processors though.

    • Vik@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Unfortunately PSP is required for x86 core initialisation. I’m not sure if this can actually be bypassed.

  • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
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    2 months ago

    Notable quote:

    “It’s going to be nearly undetectable and nearly unpatchable.” Only opening a computer’s case, physically connecting directly to a certain portion of its memory chips with a hardware-based programming tool known as SPI Flash programmer and meticulously scouring the memory would allow the malware to be removed, Okupski says.

    Let’s hope a microcode or BIOS update can prevent it from happening in the first place.

    Original source:

    https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54863

    Relevant links:

    https://ioactive.com/event/def-con-talk-amd-sinkclose-universal-ring-2-privilege-escalation/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSp38lFQeRE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR0nh-TdpVg&t=2s

    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-amd-sinkclose-flaw-helps-install-nearly-undetectable-malware/

    (I found the Bleeping Computer article more informative and concise than the Wired one.)

  • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    More “cybersecurity” clickbait with red/blue/green images of processors and skulls. That’s the real “infection”

  • Rayspekt@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    So what do I exactly need to do if I have ine if the affected CPUs? What specifically do I need to patch?

    • Vik@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You’ll want to upgrade your system BIOS when your board vendor makes this fix available.

    • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’m not an expert, but reading the posts here the answer seems to be “nothing.” The only people affected by this already know how to prevent it.

    • FangedWyvern42@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Nothing. It sounds like it only affects a very small number of people, but the general public has no need to worry.