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AMD/ATI Video Drivers: Unsafe At Any Speed

Posted by timothy on from the hey-man-we've-all-got-problems dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CERT/CC has called out AMD for having insecure video drivers. AMD/ATI video drivers are incompatible with system-wide ASLR. 'Always On' DEP combined with 'Always On' ASLR are effective exploit mitigations. However, most people don't know about 'Always On' ASLR since Microsoft had to hide it from EMET with an 'EnableUnsafeSettings' registry key — because AMD/ATI video drivers will cause a BSOD on boot if 'Always On' ASLR is enabled."

8 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. AOD by Kjella · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Acronym Overload Detected. A summary is supposed to summarize but I couldn't tell what this story is about unless I already know.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    1. Re:AOD by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Notice that the first reference to ASLR in the summary is actually a link to Wikipedia.

      And the reference to EMET is a link to a microsoft page that has at the top this warning:

      This article applies to a different operating system than the one you are using. Article content that may not be relevant to you is disabled.

      I'm reading this on a linux system, but I manage several windows boxes. It's very useful for microsoft to refuse to diplay content it decides I don't need to see. Thank you.

    2. Re:AOD by noh8rz3 · · Score: 5, Informative

      aslr = a way to secure your memory so it's harder for malware to run attacks.
      EMET = a bunch of tools that windows uses to secure the machine. aslr is one of these tools
      bsod = blue screen of death. your computer is frozen
      AMD = a company that was formerly known for making computer chips, but is now in the graphics card business
      ATI = a graphics card manufacturer that AMD bought.
      DEP = another tool in the EMET toolkit.
      cert/cc = an organization that is viewed as an authority on computer stuff.

      in short, AMD drivers suck so much that microsoft has to override its own computer protections to keep AMD from crashing your machine. so the drivers are not just unstable, they make your machine more vulnerable to malware. cert says, "epic fail".

  2. Re:Crappy AMD drivers?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're absolutely right; AMD's drivers rarely allow you to play games.

  3. Re:Crappy AMD drivers?! by LingNoi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I never mentioned Nvidia, it's also completely irrelevant as AMD drivers will suck regardless of what Nvidia does.

  4. ASLR by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Preventing yesterday's attacks, tomorrow.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:ASLR by blackraven14250 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Better to prevent yesterday's attacks at all than to leave the hole open for all time...

    2. Re:ASLR by osu-neko · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Given that "yesterday's attacks" compromise 99% of the attacks that occur every day, that seems wise.

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."