Linux Kernel receives updates to patch AMD INCEPTION and Intel DOWNFALL vulnerabilities
The Linux kernel has received six new updates aimed at patching the AMD INCEPTION and Intel DOWNFALL speculative execution vulnerabilities, similar to the infamous Meltdown and Spectre disclosed in January 2018.
These speculative side-channel attacks could potentially result in privileged data leakage to unprivileged processes. The new Linux kernel patches allow for the reporting of these vulnerabilities and offer controls for modifying their behavior in conjunction with the latest CPU microcode.
To fully mitigate these new flaws, it is essential to have the latest microcode from Intel and AMD. Intel has already released an update to address the issue affecting older CPUs from 2015 to 2019, even if this could impact performance significantly with a potential 50% reduction.
- Operating System
- Free • Open Source
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External links
- Mitigation for the speculative return stack overflow (SRSO) +vulnerability found on AMD processorsLinux kernel source tree • Official source
- Downfall AttacksDownfall.page • Official source
- Return Address Security BulletinAMD • Official source
- AMD and Intel CPU security bugs bring Linux patchesZDNET
- Six New Stable Linux Kernel Updates For Intel DOWNFALL & AMD INCEPTIONPhoronix
- Collide+Power, Downfall, and Inception: New Side-Channel Attacks Affecting Modern CPUsThe Hacker News