Side Channel Methods – Analysis, News, and Updates Facts about Security Research and Intel® Products Last updated May 23, 2018 10:00 am PDT Overview Variant 4 and Variant 3a are derivatives of the side channel methods previously disclosed by Google Project Zero (GPZ) in January. There are multiple ways consumers and IT professionals can protect their systems, including browser-based mitigations that have already been deployed. We continue to urge all customers to keep their systems up-to-date as this is one of the best ways to stay protected. Intel is committed to protecting customers and their data, and we are also committed to coordinated disclosure. We worked closely with many other technology companies, including AMD, Arm Holdings and several operating system and hypervisor vendors, to develop an industry-wide approach mitigating these issues. Below are the latest facts, news and updates about Variant 4 and 3a, as well as the Variants previously disclosed by GPZ in January. We’ve also included more information on steps you can take to help protect your systems and information. Please see the Intel Analysis of Speculative Execution Side Channels and Speculative Execution Side-Channel Mitigations white papers for more in-depth information. Protecting Your Computer Systems There are multiple ways for consumers and IT Professionals to safeguard their systems from the side channel analysis methods. Mitigation for Variant 4 started in January when most leading browser providers deployed mitigations for Variant 1 in their managed runtimes – mitigations that substantially increase the difficulty of exploiting side channels in a web browser. These mitigations are also applicable to Variant 4 and available for consumers to use today. However, to ensure we offer the option for full mitigation and to prevent this method from being used in other ways, we and our industry partners are offering an additional mitigation for Variant 4, which is a combination of microcode and software updates. Performance impact from the mitigations for Variant 4 will vary based on workload, platform configuration, and the mitigation techniques employed. Variant 3a is mitigated in the same processor microcode updates as Variant 4, and Intel has released these updates in beta form to OEM system manufacturers and system software vendors. They are being readied for production release, and will be delivered to consumers and IT Professionals in the coming weeks. Based on preliminary observations, we expect no meaningful impact to system performance from the mitigation of Variant 3a. Coordinated Disclosure Coordinated disclosure is regarded as one of the best ways to protect customers from security exploits. Coordinated disclosure is based on two concepts: (1) when security vulnerabilities arise, companies work quickly, collaboratively, and effectively to mitigate the vulnerabilities, and (2) companies simultaneously take steps to decrease the risk that information becomes publicly available before mitigations are available. We believe that the principles of coordinated disclosure are best expressed by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute, which has stated: “The public and especially users of vulnerable products deserve to be informed about issues with those products and how the vendor handles those issues. At the same time, disclosing such information without review and mitigation only opens the public up to exploitation. The ideal scenario occurs when everyone coordinates and cooperates to protect the public.” Information on coordinated disclosure and its importance can be found in the Guide to Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure. More information on Product Security at Intel can be found on our corporate responsibility site here. News May 21, 2018: Addressing New Research for Side-channel Analysis May 3, 2018: Addressing Questions Regarding Additional Security Issues Apr. 16, 2018: Securing the Digital World: Intel Announces Silicon-Level Security Technologies, Industry Adoption at RSA 2018 Apr. 12, 2018: Furthering Intel's Security First Pledge with Cybersecurity Public Policy Click for more News Apr. 6, 2018: Bringing the Security-First Pledge to Life with New Intel Product Assurance and Security Group Mar. 15, 2018: Advancing Security at the Silicon Level Feb. 20, 2018: Latest Intel Security News: Updated Firmware Now Available for 6th, 7th and 8th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors, Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors and More Feb. 14, 2018: Expanding Intel’s Bug Bounty Program: New Side Channel Program, Increased Awards Feb. 7, 2018: Security Issue Update: Progress Continues on Firmware Updates Jan. 22, 2018: Root Cause of Reboot Issue Identified; Updated Guidance for Customers and Partners Jan. 17, 2018: Firmware Updates and Initial Performance Data for Data Center Systems (Includes performance data results) Jan. 11, 2018: Intel Security Issue Update: Addressing Reboot Issues Jan. 11, 2018: Intel’s Security-First Pledge Jan. 10, 2018: Intel Security Issue Update: Initial Performance Data Results for Client Systems (Includes performance data results) Jan. 9, 2018: Intel Offers Security Issue Update Jan. 8, 2018: Intel CEO Addresses Security Research Findings During 2018 CES Keynote Address Jan. 4, 2018: Intel Issues Updates to Protect Systems from Security Exploits Jan. 4, 2018: Industry Testing Shows Recently Released Security Updates Not Impacting Performance in Real-World Deployments Jan. 3, 2018: Intel Responds to Security Research Findings How the Analysis Methods Work A side-channel is some observable aspect of a computer system’s physical operation, such as timing, power consumption or even sound. The statistical analysis of these behaviors can in some cases be used to potentially expose sensitive data on computer systems that are operating as designed. These side channel analysis methods do not have the potential to corrupt, modify or delete data. Most modern CPUs are able to predict what code they might need to run for a given process, and run it in advance so the results are ready before they are needed. This can significantly improve the overall performance and efficiency of a CPU, resulting in a faster and more capable computer or mobile device. CPUs may sometimes move data from one memory location to another for use by these processes. Although the system is operating exactly as it is designed to, in certain cases some of this data may be observable through these side channel analysis methods. Read the Security-First pledge, an open letter from Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel Corporation, to Technology Industry Leaders. Useful Resources about the Issue System manufacturers, operating system vendors, and others not listed here may have published information regarding this situation. You should check for updates or advisories from your system manufacturer or operating system vendor. This list is not comprehensive. Resources from Intel Product Security at Intel Intel security center Intel Software Resources Resources from OS and Hardware Vendors Microsoft Oracle Red Hat Suse Windriver Third-party Information on Sound Security Practices Stop.Think.Connect National Cyber Security Alliance Information from System Manufacturers System manufacturers, operating system vendors, and others not listed here may have published information regarding this situation. You should check for updates or advisories from your system manufacturer or operating system vendor. This list is not comprehensive. Acer ASRock Asus Dell Technologies FTS (EMEA) Fujitsu Getac Gigabyte HPE HPI Huawei Intel® Desktop Boards Intel® NUC/Compute Stick/Compute Card Intel Servers Lenovo MSI Panasonic (English) Quanta/QCT Supermicro VMware products Wiwynn Intel Customer Support For Assistance Contact Your Operating System or System Manufacturer above, or Intel Customer Support Submit an Intel Customer Support Web ticket Mainland China Phone Number (800) 820 1100 (Toll Free) Asia-Pacific phone numbers Europe, Middle-East, Africa Phone Numbers Phone numbers Latin America Phone Numbers Phone numbers North America Phone Number (916) 377-7000 Pokaż więcej Pokaż mniej Frequently Asked Questions Is my data at risk? Is Intel aware of any real-world usage of these new exploits? Is this a bug in Intel hardware or processor design? Which companies’ products are affected by these issues? Why doesn't Intel eliminate side-channel analysis methods? Can these new exploits be enabled remotely? When did Intel learn about the issue? When will updates to address this issue be available? What should I do to protect my systems and information? Will applying updates to address this issue hurt the performance of my system? Why are some of the updates to address this issue on Intel systems coming from systems manufacturers and some from operating system vendors? My system has a CPU that is not among those listed to receive an update. What should I do? Impacted Intel® Platforms Please check with your system vendor or equipment manufacturer (see links above) for more information regarding your system. View Impacted Intel Platforms The following Intel®-based platforms are impacted by Variants 1, 2, & 3. Intel may modify this list at a later time. Intel® Core™ i3 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel® Core™ i5 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel® Core™ i7 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel® Core™ m processor family (45nm and 32nm) 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors 4th generation Intel® Core™ processors 5th generation Intel® Core™ processors 6th generation Intel® Core™ processors 7th generation Intel® Core™ processors 8th generation Intel® Core™ processors Intel® Core™ X-series processor family for Intel® X99 platforms Intel® Core™ X-series processor family for Intel® X299 platforms Intel® Xeon® processor 3400 series Intel® Xeon® processor 3600 series Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series Intel® Xeon® processor 5600 series Intel® Xeon® processor 6500 series Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series Intel® Xeon® processor E3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v2 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v4 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v5 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v6 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v2 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v4 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v2 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v4 family Intel® Xeon® processor Scalable family Intel® Xeon Phi™ processor 3200, 5200, 7200 series Intel Atom® processor C series Intel Atom® processor E series Intel Atom® processor A series Intel Atom® processor x3 series Intel Atom® processor Z series Intel® Celeron® processor J series Intel® Celeron® processor N series Intel® Pentium® processor J series Intel® Pentium® processor N series The following Intel®-based platforms are impacted by Variants 3a & 4. Intel may modify this list at a later time. Intel® Core™ i3 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel® Core™ i5 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel® Core™ i7 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel® Core™ M processor family (45nm and 32nm) 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors 4th generation Intel® Core™ processors 5th generation Intel® Core™ processors 6th generation Intel® Core™ processors 7th generation Intel® Core™ processors 8th generation Intel® Core™ processors Intel® Core™ X-series processor family for Intel® X99 platforms Intel® Core™ X-series processor family for Intel® X299 platforms Intel® Xeon® processor 3400 series Intel® Xeon® processor 3600 series Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series Intel® Xeon® processor 5600 series Intel® Xeon® processor 6500 series Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series Intel® Xeon® processor E3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v2 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v4 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v5 family Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v6 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v2 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v4 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v2 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v3 family Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v4 family Intel® Xeon® processor Scalable family Intel Atom® processor C series (C3308, C3338, C3508, C3538, C3558, C3708, C3750, C3758, C3808, C3830, C3850, C3858, C3950, C3955, C3958) Intel Atom® processor E series Intel Atom® processor A series Intel Atom® processor X series (x5-E3930, x5-E3940, x7-E3950) Intel Atom® processor T series (T5500, T5700) Intel Atom® processor Z series Intel® Celeron® processor J series (J3355, J3455, J4005, J4105) Intel® Celeron® processor N series (N3450) Intel® Pentium® processor J series (J4205) Intel® Pentium® processor N series (N4000, N4100, N4200) Intel® Pentium® processor Silver series (J5005, N5000) Overview Protecting Your PC Disclosure News How it Works Useful Resources Manufacturer Info Customer Support FAQ Impacted Platforms Informacje o firmie Nasze zaangażowanie Społeczności Współpraca z inwestorami Kontakt z nami Aktualności Praca © Intel Corporation Warunki użytkowania * Znaki towarowe Ochrona danych Pliki cookie Przejrzystość łańcucha dostaw Mapa strony