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Intel Has a New Spectre and Meltdown Firmware Patch For You To Try Out (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the second-time's-the-charm? dept.

Mark Wilson writes: The Spectre/Meltdown debacle continues to rumble on, and now the chip manufacturer has announced the availability of a new 'microcode solution' to the vulnerability. The updated firmware applies to 6th, 7th and 8th Generation Intel Core devices, and the release sees the company crossing its fingers and hoping that everything works out this time.

This is Intel's second attempt at patching the vulnerability, and this time around both the company and its customers will be praying that the fix for Skylake, Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake chips actually does the job.

6 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Tricky decision by bestweasel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm waiting for the point when the Intel patch does less damage than Spectre and Meltdown. Are we there yet?

  2. Prayer vs. Testing. by geekmux · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "...this time around both the company and its customers will be praying that the fix for Skylake, Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake chips actually does the job."

    I can understand the masses praying for a legitimate fix, but the company is praying this will work? Did they suddenly abandon the concept of testing prior to release?

    I mean, it's not like Intel has to go digging to find a metric fuckton of affected hardware...

  3. Who writes these taglines? by Dwedit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who writes these taglines? This is clearly not a Meltdown patch at all, so it shouldn't be mentioned anywhere.

  4. It depends... by gwolf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does losing up to ~30% of your chip's speed mean more or less damage to you, to your usual workload, to the threat model you feel as better applying to your person?

  5. Re:another day another solution by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nonsense. He would have inserted how his hosts file utility protects against Spectre and Meltdown. And you can totally trust a guy whose website for his tool still shows Windows NT 4.0 screenshots!

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  6. Still shipping vulnerable processors? by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is Intel still shipping processors with these vulnerabilities?

    If so, you have to ask "what the hell are they thinking"?

    Would Ford or Chevy be allowed to keep selling a vehicle which was known to have defects that made it unroadworthy even before you drove it off the showroom floor?