Intel issues new Spectre firmware updates for Skylake, Kaby Lake, and Coffee Lake chips

[midian182]

Intel has announced it is rolling out microcode updates that it says will mitigate against the Spectre variant 2 security flaw. Hopefully, this batch won’t lead to unwanted side-effects like the rebooting issues caused by the company’s last attempt at a fix.

The new firmware updates apply to Intel's 6^th (Skylake), 7^th (Kaby Lake), and 8^th (Coffee Lake) generation of chips, as well as Intel Core X-series processors and Intel Xeon processors.

Those using older Sandy Bridge, Broadwell, Haswell and Ivy Bridge CPUs will have to wait a bit longer to receive the updates. According to Intel’s microcode update document, beta firmware exists for these lines, but there’s no word yet on when they will arrive. There are even pre-beta stage firmware updates for 1st generation Arrandale and Clarkdale chips, which launched back in 2010.

Intel said that in most cases, the new microcode would be made available through OEM firmware updates.

At the end of January, Microsoft released an out-of-cycle emergency update to disable the microcode Intel released to mitigate Spectre variant 2. Intel had already warned people to stop installing it due to unexpected reboots and later admitted that in some cases it could cause “data loss and corruption.”

Spectre and Meltdown have given Intel its biggest headache in years. The company is facing 32 separate lawsuits from customers and investors over the flaws and has been roundly criticized for the way it has handled the situation.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/73400-intel-issues-new-spectre-firmware-update-skylake-kaby.html

 

[Uncle Al]

I wonder if these guys use any outside sources to "test" the validity of these chips before taking them to market. In the very old days Microsoft would release programs to the "kids" could tinker. About 75% of the issues were fixed by those that simply wanted to programs to work. It was cheap, fast, effective and I'm not sure they don't still do it. Any idea's out there???

 

[Squid Surprise]

I wonder if these guys use any outside sources to "test" the validity of these chips before taking them to market. In the very old days Microsoft would release programs to the "kids" could tinker. About 75% of the issues were fixed by those that simply wanted to programs to work. It was cheap, fast, effective and I'm not sure they don't still do it. Any idea's out there???

The thing with MS was, they had an enormous user base that already receives constant "communication" from MS via Windows Updates...

While tons of people may own Intel processors, only a tiny percentage actually have any "contact" with Intel after purchase... There is no "Intel Update" that a user has to click on (or have happen automatically), and those people who DO update their firmware either receive these updates from a 3rd party (generally MS' Windows Updates) or by manually installing from Intel's website.

When MS opened up their Beta testing program, therefore, they had an audience of millions - and thousands of people volunteered.

If Intel does the same, they'll only have an audience of thousands - meaning only dozens will actually volunteer... think of the sheer volume of different PC configurations that need to be tested... You'd need thousands of testers... and even then, a few scenarios are bound to pop up that haven't been tested...

 

[MoeJoe]

I want my Broadwell-E update.