

This can occur even if the original read instruction fails due to privilege checking, or if it never produces a readable result. Since instruction pipelining is in the affected processors, the data from an unauthorized address will almost always be temporarily loaded into the CPU's cache during out-of-order execution-from which the data can be recovered. The vulnerability allows an unauthorized process to read data from any address that is mapped to the current process's memory space.

Additionally, combined with a cache side-channel attack, this vulnerability allows a process to bypass the normal privilege checks that isolate the exploit process from accessing data belonging to the operating system and other running processes. This occurs between memory access and privilege checking during instruction processing. Meltdown exploits a race condition, inherent in the design of many modern CPUs. On 8 October 2018, Intel is reported to have added hardware and firmware mitigations regarding Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities to its latest processors. On 15 March 2018, Intel reported that it will redesign its CPUs to help protect against the Meltdown and related Spectre vulnerabilities (especially, Meltdown and Spectre-V2, but not Spectre-V1), and expects to release the newly redesigned processors later in 2018.
THE MELTDOWN SOFTWARE
security software to help protect against malware (advanced threat prevention software or anti-virus)." Nonetheless, according to Dell: "No 'real-world' exploits of these vulnerabilities have been reported to date, though researchers have produced proof-of-concepts." Further, recommended preventions include: "promptly adopting software updates, avoiding unrecognized hyperlinks and websites, not downloading files or applications from unknown sources. On 18 January 2018, unwanted reboots, even for newer Intel chips, due to Meltdown and Spectre patches, were reported. Spectre patches have been reported to significantly reduce performance, especially on older computers on the newer eighth-generation Core platforms, benchmark performance drops of 2–14 percent have been measured. Meltdown patches may produce performance loss. Several procedures to help protect home computers and related devices from the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities have been published. The vulnerabilities are so severe that security researchers initially believed the reports to be false. The Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities are considered "catastrophic" by security analysts. It was disclosed in conjunction with another exploit, Spectre, with which it shares some characteristics. Meltdown was issued a Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures ID of CVE- 2017-5754, also known as Rogue Data Cache Load (RDCL), in January 2018. Accordingly, many servers and cloud services were impacted, as well as a potential majority of smart devices and embedded devices using ARM-based processors (mobile devices, smart TVs, printers and others), including a wide range of networking equipment.Ī purely software workaround to Meltdown has been assessed as slowing computers between 5 and 30 percent in certain specialized workloads, although companies responsible for software correction of the exploit reported minimal impact from general benchmark testing. At the time of disclosure (2018), this included all devices running any but the most recent and patched versions of iOS, Linux, macOS, or Windows. Meltdown affects a wide range of systems. It allows a rogue process to read all memory, even when it is not authorized to do so. Meltdown is a hardware vulnerability affecting Intel x86 microprocessors, IBM POWER processors, and some ARM-based microprocessors. Intel x86 microprocessors, IBM POWER processors, and some ARM-based microprocessors The logo used by the team that discovered the vulnerability
