Linux Inventor Calls Intel's Spectre Fixes 'Complete and Utter Garbage'
Linus Torvalds, inventor of Linux and current primary developer for the operating system, has a few choice words for Intel after the company revealed their proposed fix for the Meltdown and Spectre security issues on their CPUs.
Modern CPUs attempt to execute instructions ahead of time to offer a moderate boost in performance, and has been an accepted technique in processor design for years now. Newly revealed exploits could make use of this speculative execution, however, leading to a serious security hold that can let hackers gain access to an unpatched system, as Gizmodo points out.
The problem is as embedded as it gets in the hardware, so trying to fix the issue for existing computers means doing it via software. Another problem came up along the way to a fix — the workaround could impart a five to 30 percent performance hit.
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Intel's approach for future releases, one that Linux is now taking issue with, is to leave it to the operating system to enable the Spectre protection mechanisms that will be built into newer CPUs. This means that these protections will be turned off by default, as The Register explains.
Linus Torvalds posted a message to the Linux kernel mailing list this weekend with his thoughts on Intel's new proposal.
"As it is, the patches are COMPLETE AND UTTER GARBAGE," he wrote.
"All of this is pure garbage. Is Intel really planning on making this sh** architectural?" Torvalds asked, going on to ask if any of the members of the mailing list has tried to talk to Intel about their idea.
"Has anybody talked to them and told them they are f****** insane? Please, any Intel engineers here – talk to your managers," he added.
As for Intel, they have replied with a statement to The Register, saying, "We take the feedback of industry partners seriously. We are actively engaging with the Linux community, including Linus, as we seek to work together on solutions."
