A fundamental design flaw in Intel's processor chips has forced a significant redesign of the Linux and Windows kernels to defang the chip-level security bug.
Programmers are scrambling to overhaul the open-source Linux kernel's virtual memory system. Meanwhile, Microsoft is expected to publicly introduce the necessary changes to its Windows operating system in an upcoming Patch Tuesday: these changes were seeded to beta testers running fast-ring Windows Insider builds in November and December.
Crucially, these updates to both Linux and Windows will incur a performance hit on Intel products. The effects are still being benchmarked, however we're looking at a ballpark figure of five to 30 per cent slow down, depending on the task and the processor model. More recent Intel chips have features – such as PCID – to reduce the performance hit. Your mileage may vary.
...The hastily released Jan. 4 Windows Meltdown/Spectre patches left many AMD computer owners in a bind. Complaints started flowing in shortly after the release, with blue screen errors 0x000000C4 and 0x800F0845, and machines that stubbornly refused to start, even after undergoing normal resuscitation. Windows PCs with AMD processors got dinged, but there are also reports of Intel machines with AMD video cards malfunctioning.
Early this morning, Jan. 9, Microsoft finally acknowledged the bugs and pulled the patches for “some AMD devices.”...
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.3 * Norton Security Premium v22.11.2.7 * MB v3.3.1
Win8.1 and Server 2012 R2 KB 4056898 is the January security-only patch, which must be manually downloaded and installed. It, too, contains only the Meltdown fix. (There was no Preview Monthly Rollup in December.) I don’t see any references to a Win8.1 Monthly Rollup — it’s likely we’ll see one sooner or later.
Forgive me, I am a bit confused. While the update number listed here is incorrect, there is one for Windows 8.1, and that is the one not showing for us. Only bit of advice I saw for that was to wait for the standard monthly update if it's not showing up (I apologize if there's something else I missed)
With all the recent froth about Meltdown and Spectre, I wasn't aware that KB4056892 didn't apply to Windows 8.1.
As this is a chip flaw, shouldn't there also be an update for Windows 8.1? A quick search reveals the 8.1 update may be delivered next week as per the typical 2nd Tuesday update (?).
Symantec also maintains a list of vulnerabilites on their Security Response site at https://www.symantec.com/security_response/landing/vulnerabilities.jsp that Symantec security products like Norton will detect if there is an attempted exploit of the vulnerability. Click on the advisory name for CVE-2017-5753 on that page to see further details about affected technologies (e.g., Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) that are now protected. Note that users should still apply security patches released for Windows and other installed software (e.g., the Firefox browser v57.0.4 security update released 04-Jan-2018 by Mozilla for Spectre timing attacks) as soon as they are made available by the manufacturer even if Symantec has added a detection to help protect users with unpatched software.
... I am out of my comfort zone and am not sure what this all means. My reading is that there is something I can download from Microsoft that limits the problem with Intel. Is that right?
Woody Leonhard's 05-Jan-2017 ComputerWorld article Win7 Monthly Rollup KB 4056894 signals early, abbreviated Patch Tuesday has a list of KB numbers for each supported Windows operating system (Win 7 and higher) for the recently-released security updates that include a patch for the Meltdown vulnerability. Find the relevant KB number(s) in that ComputerWorld article for the January 2018 security update(s) for your operating system. Then check the list of installed updates in your Windows Update History to see if an automatic Windows Update has already delivered the required Meltdown-related patch (usually a January 2018 Monthly Rollup) since 03-Jan-2018. Post back and let us know your operating system if you can't find your Windows Update History or require further assistance.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.5.3 * Norton Security Premium v22.11.2.7 * MB v3.3.1
Hello, can someone tell me how to check to see if my Reg Key has the required update to install the latest Win10 1709 update? I want to know if Norton has updated this key so Windows 10 Update will not cause a BSOD when updated. I did get the Windows update and it's pending installation. From what I understand from above, I wouldn't have received the update unless Reg Key had been updated? I just want to confirm on my laptop it has required Reg Key before proceeding.
I would imagine that the manufacturer's update would be directed to any INTEL chip on the motherboard. I would anticipate that the CPU itself cannot be modified?
I'm using an ASUS/AMD motherboard dating back to the release of Windows 7 although I'm on Windows 10 now. The ASUS website does not show anything relevant and indeed officially mine may not support Windows 10!
I find Speccy invaluable in situations like this since in a few seconds it lists more technical information about your system than you could possible want to know! But in a format very easy to follow and with the bonus that you can Copy/Paste a word or bits of it so that if I can't remember the exact definition of my Motherboard, one click and I not only know it's M4A78T-E but I can paste that into Google or the ASUS website if I need to look for something related to it.
Of course being AMD with an AMD CPU there are no INTEL chips on it so far as I can see:
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Model M4A78T-E (AM3)
Version Rev 1.xx
Chipset Vendor AMD
Chipset Model 790GX
Chipset Revision 00
Southbridge Vendor AMD
Southbridge Model SB700
Southbridge Revision 00