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AMD Is Releasing Spectre Firmware Updates To Fix CPU Vulnerabilities (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: AMD's initial response to the Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws made it clear "there is a near zero risk to AMD processors." That zero risk doesn't mean zero impact, as we're starting to discover today. "We have defined additional steps through a combination of processor microcode updates and OS patches that we will make available to AMD customers and partners to further mitigate the threat," says Mark Papermaster, AMD's chief technology officer. AMD is making firmware updates available for Ryzen and EPYC owners this week, and the company is planning to update older processors "over the coming weeks." Like Intel, these firmware updates will be provided to PC makers, and it will be up to suppliers to ensure customers receive these. AMD isn't saying whether there will be any performance impacts from applying these firmware updates, nor whether servers using EPYC processors will be greatly impacted or not. AMD is also revealing that its Radeon GPU architecture isn't impacted by Meltdown or Spectre, simply because those GPUs "do not use speculative execution and thus are not susceptible to these threats." AMD says it plans to issue further statements as it continues to develop security updates for its processors.
I have been told by at least 500 Koolaid drinkers and their bots that the only vulnerable chips that have ever existed in all of human history were made by Intel because INTEL IS THE SOLE SOURCE OF EVIL ON EARTH!
Intel put these bugs in intentionally because Russia & NSA while simultaneously doing it because they are stupid!
Any school child and CPU design experts like Linus Torvalds Theo De Radt knew about these bugs and exactly how to exploit them for DECADES but didn't do anything about it until now because of Intel's MIND CONTROL RAYS that made open source software illegal!
This disrupts the narrative and therefore is an anti-science big-oil lie. AMD chips are all perfect. Hell, AMD chips are so perfect that you don't need to even update the software because software bugs are just a propaganda lie invented by EVIL INTEL to distract us from the fact that AMD is perfect.
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
Tend to score high on the autist scale.
You *deliberately* ignored that, when saying "zero risk doesn't mean zero impact", to artificially make a point as sleazy as a (certain) corporate spokesperson's.
The lottery also has near zero chance of winning. But it certainly wasn't zero, as you'd imply, for those who did.
"... whether there will be any performance impacts from applying these firmware updates, nor whether servers using EPYC processors will be greatly impacted or not."
You just *had* to mention EPYC *a second time*, to really truly highlight your suggesive narrative.
Like "ACs didn't say there weren't shills, nor did TFS's AC say he wasn't a complete shill.". --.--
Not sure why MS hasn't pushed out an Intel microcode update on Windows yet, motherboards are slow to get BIOS updates so far
Think you are smart? I have questions for you, to reflect upon. (Not that you are capable of it.)
Do you trade your life's waking hours for credits, to be spend in your remaining hours on bullshit gadgets?
Do you have any control over anything in your life?
Are you financially independent?
Why do you think marketing and sales earns more than you?
Why do you think this is?
Bonus autist quiz:
Do you have an answer for everything?
Do you think coding == software development?
Do you often (think you) know unrelated factoids that you can impress people with, especially in the middle of a conversation?
Do you think the ability to instruct an CPU means you are destined for more than pure code monkeyship?
Well, then I have a surprise for you.
And it is right in my .. ASS.
Happy bitching, beta motherfuckers!
AMD never said there was a near zero risk for Spectre. AMD is not affected by Meltdown. AMD and Intel affected by Spectre. Period. Stop trying to push Intels problems on AMD.
Should we be expecting a BIOS update for Intel machines? Or is this completely taken care of by the patches that MS and others have pushed out?
The Verge is obvioulsy a non-credible source. Or does that just apply to stories editors don't want to publish (*ahem* twitter *ahem) ?
What a terrible article. Here Slashdot editors, a better one from a no-name site that actually gets the facts right :
https://www.lowyat.net/2018/152301/amd-begin-distributing-firmware-updates-patch-spectre-vulnerability/
Or just use the damn primary source :
http://www.amd.com/en/corporate/speculative-execution
"Not to mention all the idiots who use words like boxen."
Anonymous Coward on Monday August 04, @06:49PM
Your PC maker or motherboard maker should have a patch for firmware / microcode. To completely mitigate the vulnerability on Intel based computers - you will have to patch both the OS and the firmware. I believe the firmware patch is required as part of Spectre (probably 2nd variant). Without both, your computer will be still vulnerable. Unfortunately I believe there is a chance that the patch could fail silently - but there is a powerscript that will tell you the status of the vulnerability patches.
The firmware update comes from your PC manufacturer or motherboard manufacturer.
I've read so many articles on Meltdown/Spectre and many of them at least get some of it wrong. Even Microsoft and Intel can't agree on this significance of performance slowdowns. I personally think AMD tried to capitalize on this and downplayed their chips exposure to this. That's marketing, and they also carefully worded their response so as to minimize their exposure. Actually, the better question that needs answering, is where to we go from here with CPU's? These two exploits might be fixable, but they also poise a roadblock to speed even in new CPU's down the road. The users I think most affected by this is users with older hardware and weaker Atom and Celeron CPU's. These users have little to play with in lost performance so these slowdowns are worse even if they only create a small percent reduction.
This BS looks to have come straight from the Intel PR department.
Complete FUD, mixing the two unrelated bugs, and utterly misleading the reader into thinking that AMD's completely accurate response to the major Intel bug was somehow wrong.
As a tech site Slashdot should be ashamed.
says Mark Papermaster, AMD's chief technology officer.
So that's why we're as far away as ever from POOF, the Paperless Office Of the Future.
This is an update to microcode which fundamentally modifies the behavior of the instructions within a processor. You could argue that it's just a specific type of firmware but if that's the case then call it by title it's been given! It's not like this is a website for non-technical people.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
As a (sad) owner of some 7 Intel-based PCs (and 3 AMD-based ones), I sure would like to know whether some of them have escaped that set of curses.
Ideally, a long list with a column per vulnerability would be best.
Is there such beast? Or should we just sigh and consider newer than 1995 == broken?