Many DDR3 Modules Vulnerable To Bit Rot By a Simple Program

New submitter Pelam writes: Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Intel report that a large percentage of tested regular DDR3 modules flip bits in adjacent rows (PDF) when a voltage in a certain control line is forced to fluctuate. The program that triggers this is dead simple — just two memory reads with special relative offset and some cache control instructions in a tight loop. The researchers don't delve deeply into applications of this, but hint at possible security exploits. For example a rather theoretical attack on JVM sandbox using random bit flips (PDF) has been demonstrated before.

Comments

Not theoretical. It's hogwash.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is ridiculous. Realistically, when have you ever run into a situation where stib teg ylirartibra deppilf?

Re:Many DDR3 modules?

[MightyYar]

Climate change... [ducks].