Intel CPU exploit threatens PCs worldwide

[KilJaden]

Coincident with the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver Thursday, Joanna Rutkowska and Rafal Wojtczuk, researchers at Invisible Things Lab, released information on a security exploit that could compromise PCs that run on Intel processors.

In a paper describing the exploit, they claimed that the attack, involving cache poisoning in a CPU operation mode called System Management Mode (SMM), was the third their team had found affecting Intel-based systems within the last 10 months.

“It seems that current state of firmware security, even in cases of such reputable vendors as Intel, is quite unsatisfying,” they wrote in the paper.

An attack based on the Intel exploit could poison a chip's cache memory, which would enable forced access to SMM, the most privileged CPU mode on x86 architectures. Even operating systems cannot access SSM, which handles certain errors, power management and other features. According to Rutkowska and Wojtczuk, exploitation of the CPU cache could mean dumping the contents of RAM used for SSM, or enabling arbitrary code execution in that memory.

The potential consequence of attacks on SMM might include SMM rootkits, hypervisor compromises, or OS kernel protection bypassing, they said.

Intel has been working on a solution to prevent caching attacks on SMM memory, and a spokesperson has said that many new systems are protected against the exploit. But, writing in their paper, Rutkowska and Wojtczuk said: “Some of Intel's recent motherboards, like the popular DQ35, are still vulnerable to the attack. Additionally, the workarounds that Intel has mentioned to us are not yet officially documented.”

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[Ambrocious]

Every day I see new threats out there that threaten pretty much everyone I know that owns a PC. It makes my job that much harder but it also makes it that more plentiful. It's nearly shocking to me to see such new threats but as the advance of newer and more usable technology, the threats will find ways to make what was made for good to be used for bad.

How soon will it be when a virus gets out that threatens national security...then what? When this happens...pretty much anyone dealing with ANYTHING that is not a legit service/program/game/software will be bundled up into on package where we will all be held just as guilty as the ones who victimized our security even though I use what I pirate to fight against all that bad crap. I shake my head when I see all these new threats but I know also that before it's over...many years from now, it will get MUCH worse.