Intel Warns Against Their Own Latest Security Patch for Spectre and Meltdown
Intel has just released a new firmware update that attempts to close the Spectre and Meltdown security holes that have been discovered in their CPUs. With multiple reports of rebooting issues, however, the company has now officially come out to recommend that users stop using their patch.
In a press statement last Monday, Jan. 22, Intel executive vice president Navin Shenoy announced that they have identified the cause of the reboot issues for their Broadwell and Haswell CPU platforms, and that they will have a final release of a new update after testing.
With the earlier, problematic update floating online, though, the company had little recourse but to suggest that customers refrain from deploying the first version.
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"We recommend that OEMs, cloud service providers, system manufacturers, software vendors and end users stop deployment of current versions, as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior," Shenoy noted in his message.
So far, no specific delivery date on the final version has been announced by Intel, as Gamespot points out. The first version was already packaged by Microsoft as an emergency Operating System update for Windows earlier, and this has caused booting problems for some owners of some older chips, especially computers with AMD processors.
Shenoy ended the announcement with an apology for any disruption the advisory may have caused, adding that they are working overtime on the new fix.
"The security of our products is critical for Intel, our customers and partners, and for me, personally. I assure you we are working around the clock to ensure we are addressing these issues," he wrote.
It has not been a good week for the Intel team working on the Spectre and Meltdown fixes. Earlier this weekend, Linux chief maintainer Linux Torvalds had a few words to say about the company's plan for newer Intel CPUs.
