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SubjectRe: Intel microcode fixes [OFF-TOPIC]
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> EGADS! Is there NO security on the processor microcode? Could this be
> exploited to do evil narsty things?
>
> In a serious note (microcode viruses aside), I don't think that I or many
> other people even knew that Intel's microcode was changeable. I wonder
> what the security implications could be?

This issue was hashed about at this list a few months
ago, please go dig the archive.

> Does Linux protect the cpu at all in this instance?

Sure, supervisor only -- but if malicious user gets into the
supervisor mode to execute the microcode download, you have
been had anyway in many fronts.

Of course Intel does not document *publicly*, how you can
write microcode for each processor version. Such a thing is
*very* difficult to reverse-engineer without full documents!
(Ergo, I don't fear that.)

> jf
> -

/Matti Aarnio <matti.aarnio@sonera.fi>

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