14 DAY TRIAL // Intel has recently published a new set of updates for the Spectre vulnerability, but for the time being, only Skylake processors are getting them, with the other chipsets to be patched shortly.
Intel originally rolled out Meltdown and Spectre updates in early January following Google’s public disclosure, but the security fixes for one of the Spectre vulnerabilities caused issues on a number of processors.
While Intel initially said that Broadwell and Haswell CPUs were suffering from reboots, the company then explained that other chips are also affected, including Skylake and Kaby Lake.
Today’s release is aimed at Skylake exclusively, and Intel says that it’s now working to make patches for the other chipsets available as soon as possible.
“We expect to do the same for more platforms in the coming days. We also continue to release beta microcode updates so that customers and partners have the opportunity to conduct extensive testing before we move them into production,” Navin Shenoy, executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center Group at Intel Corporation, explained.
Firmware updates on their way
Shenoy also explained that very soon, partners should begin rolling out these patches as well as part of OEM firmware updates. Companies like Microsoft pulled security updates for the Spectre vulnerability after Intel acknowledged the reboot issue with the original patch.
Lastly, the Intel executive warned on exploits based on the original vulnerabilities, saying that it’s keeping an eye on current cybersecurity climate to make sure users are protected.
“New categories of security exploits often follow a similar lifecycle. This lifecycle tends to include new derivatives of the original exploit as security researchers – or bad actors – direct their time and energy at it. We expect this new category of side channel exploits to be no different. We will, of course, work closely with the industry to address these situations if and when they arise, but it again underscores the importance of regular system updates, now and in the future,” Shenoy said.
Expect device manufacturers to begin shipping the latest updates with new firmware in the next few days.