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Security flaw found in x86 Chips

Ancient history resurfaces
Friday, 20 March 2009, 12:50

AN ANCIENT FLAW IN in the x86 architecture has resurfaced as a potential new rootkit threat.

Joanna Rutkowska and Rafal Wojtczuk have released a proof-of-concept rootkit that a hacker can install on a system through a vulnerability in Intel CPUs' caching memory. The rootkit attacks System Management Mode (SMM) memory, called SMRAM and is nearly impossible to get rid of.

The problem has been fixed on Intel motherboards, but older Intel boards are apparently wide open. µ

L'Inq
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Dates?

Any dates such as intel motherboards from this date forward are fixed? Is that true for intel chipsets used by numerous manufacturers?

posted by : Regulas, 20 March 2009 Complain about this comment
Need root anyway

So my reading of this is that you need to be running privileged code anyway to be able to change the caching settings on the SMM area to attack it - but if you already have root then there are probably easier ways to break the system.

Dave

posted by : Dave, 21 March 2009 Complain about this comment
AMD

AMD then..

posted by : 99flake, 22 March 2009 Complain about this comment
Same Woman did Blue Pill

It's funny how the government wanted a way to run unstoppable remote code. Everybody freaked out. Intel & AMD say they'll take it out. But now they're *both* (look up Blue Pill for AMDs) exposed as having undocumented opcodes that allow unstoppable remote control.

Free Hardware, look it up.

posted by : Ugly American, 22 March 2009 Complain about this comment
Meh...

1. This "flaw" needs ring 0 access (read: admin rights) to be exploited.

Analogy:

"I am a burglar, I ask for your house keys, and then I boast how I can easily steal your valuables."

As Dave already said -- if you have the admin rights to a machine it is already pwned, no need for this exploit.

posted by : Igor, 22 March 2009 Complain about this comment
Normal

This is normal, like the other guys had says, so long as you run as Ring-0 you can do ANYTHING to it.

Also there's already a backdoor implemented inside nearly all chip now. It's called JTAG (look for it in Wiki). Some implemented with a hash key, some don't. If you have access to those hash key, you could read all/nearly-all function cell inside those chip. Engineers use it to test working of chip/circuit.

When you have hundred thousand connection on your circuit, you do not want to test each lead of your production line circuits by Multimeter (one-by-one). They might do it in pre-production samples, but not in the production scale. That's one advantage on the JTAG. And you can daisy-chain it throughout your board (not just internal chip only).

If "Big Brother" put an interest on you, believe me getting hold of your computer data is the LEAST of your problem.

NV_FAN_HATER

posted by : NV_FAN_HATER, 23 March 2009 Complain about this comment
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