Intel processors: a security vulnerability could slow down your PC
technology·@abix·
0.000 HBDIntel processors: a security vulnerability could slow down your PC
<center> A design flaw spotted in the Intel processors produced over the last decade could allow malicious programs to read protected areas from the kernel memory of an operating system. The publishers of the main OS are forced to modify their program in depth to counter this threat with the key slowdown in performance.  The year is starting strong on the computer security front with this discovery of a major design flaw in the 64-bit Intel processors built a decade ago that forced a significant overhaul of Linux, MacOS and Windows kernels. A malicious program hidden in a classic software, a cloud service or a JavaScript executed by a web browser could potentially access the protected areas of the kernel memory (kernel memory). This dedicated memory manages the key elements of the operating system and its interactions with the hardware components of the computer. In particular, it contains passwords, security keys or cached files. The problem in question is at the level of the x86-64 architecture of Intel processors. Except to replace simply said chip, it is at the level of the operating system that must intervene. As a result of this news relayed by The Register, Microsoft, Apple and the Linux community are hard at work to plug this flaw into their respective OSes. Fixes for the Linux kernel are already being released and Microsoft may be taking advantage of its monthly update cycle, Patch Tuesday, which falls on Jan. 9, to include a patch. Apple has not yet communicated its side concerning macOS. The technical details of this vulnerability are kept secret, but The Register gives some explanations on how the operating systems will be modified. ---AMD processors are not affected by this security vulnerability--- The heart of the problem lies in the virtual memory shared by the user processes and the OS kernel to ensure smoother operation. The technical parade is therefore to separate the memory space of the kernel and the user processes. But this patch called Kernel Page Table Isolation (KPTI) will have a negative impact on CPU performance. The first estimates made on machines that received a patch signal a drop of up to 35%. The servers used by cloud computing applications, hosting providers and more generally online services will be the most heavily penalized by these patches. On the other hand, it is not possible to know for the moment if the individuals will perceive a really damaging degradation. In a message posted on a thread dedicated to the Linux kernel, AMD found that its processors were not affected by this security vulnerability. http://i.imgur.com/L7mIqhT.gif </center>