Kernel memory leaking’ Intel processor design flaw

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Kernel memory leaking’ Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/intel_cpu_design_flaw/

First the Management Engine (ME) issues and now this. This looks very serious. Lots of links in a Google search.

7 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, AlexEiffel, satrow, woody, MrBrian, DrBonzo, Elly

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Bill C. wrote:

First the Management Engine (ME) issues and now this.

That was my first thought when I saw it earlier!

I first saw the Intel article on The Register after reading an “article” on The Onion website ;). I thought it was a New Years hoax and did a search.

I am glad I did not buy the MB or CPU for the new Linux build yet. Definitely need to see how this shakes out.

Haha.   You guys are QUICK!  Was just headed over here to post about this too.

Microsoft (apparently) already has an OS level fix slated for upcoming patch Tuesday (Yay?) but it’s expected to cause performance hits from 15-30%.   That’s pretty terrible.  Not Microsoft’s fault they are just trying to patch the hole.  Apple hasn’t commented yet that I can find and Open GNU communities are already scrambling with patches too it seems.

The gust of this is someone at Intel is fired.

A Huge Intel Security Hole Could Slow Down Your PC Soon

by Chris Hoffman | January 2nd, 2018

 
Intel chips have a massive design flaw, and both Microsoft and the Linux kernel developers are scrambling to fix it. The security hole can be patched, but the patches will make PCs (and Macs) with Intel chips slower.

We don’t know how much slowdown you’ll see yet, but one developer says a 5% slowdown will be fairly typical—at least on Linux—while certain tasks could experience slowdowns as high as 30%.

What’s Going On?
We don’t know the exact security flaw yet, as it hasn’t been publicly revealed. But we can deduce much of what’s going on from the changes being made in the Linux kernel, where development happens publicly. Microsoft is also making similar changes to Windows, which are currently active in Insider Preview builds. Apple will be forced to make similar changes to macOS, as this is a flaw in Intel CPUs.

 
Read the full article here

4 users thanked author for this post.

Elly, MrBrian, woody, AlexEiffel

Holy cow… I will NOT install this patch. I suppose guys at AMD are now opening champagne bottles.

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Some performance impact benchmarks from the Linux x86 patch at Phoronics.

Linux Gaming Performance Doesn’t Appear Affected

Given that the El Reg piece said “More recent Intel chips have features – such as PCID – to reduce the performance hit. Your mileage may vary.” and the above tests were using CPUs from the last ~2 years, one wonders how big the performance hit might be on earlier CPUs affected.

Tip o’ the hat to Tomaso for the link.

1 user thanked author for this post.

radosuaf

The gaming benchmarks are quite nice, but how many Windows games are on Vulkan or OpenGL? It’s actually DirectX performance that matters.

Fractal Design Pop Air * Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 750W * ASUS TUF GAMING B560M-PLUS * Intel Core i9-11900K * 4 x 8 GB G.Skill Aegis DDR4 3600 MHz CL16 * ASRock RX 6800 XT Phantom Gaming 16GB OC * XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 1TB * SanDisk Ultra 3D 1TB * Samsung EVO 840 250GB * DVD RW Lite-ON iHAS 124 * Windows 10 Pro 22H2 64-bit Insider * Windows 11 Pro Beta Insider