Windows 10: An Update on AMD Processor Security for Spectre and Meltdown

Brink · Jan 11, 2018

The public disclosure on January 3rd that multiple research teams had discovered security issues related to how modern microprocessors handle speculative execution has brought to the forefront the constant vigilance needed to protect and secure data. These threats seek to circumvent the microprocessor architecture controls that preserve secure data.

At AMD, security is our top priority and we are continually working to ensure the safety of our users as new risks arise. As a part of that vigilance, I wanted to update the community on our actions to address the situation.

Google Project Zero (GPZ) Variant 1 (Bounds Check Bypass or Spectre) is applicable to AMD processors.

We believe this threat can be contained with an operating system (OS) patch and we have been working with OS providers to address this issue.

Microsoft is distributing patches for the majority of AMD systems now. We are working closely with them to correct an issue that paused the distribution of patches for some older AMD processors (AMD Opteron, Athlon and AMD Turion X2 Ultra families) earlier this week. We expect this issue to be corrected shortly and Microsoft should resume updates for these older processors by next week. For the latest details, please see Microsoft’s website.

Linux vendors are also rolling out patches across AMD products now.

GPZ Variant 2 (Branch Target Injection or Spectre) is applicable to AMD processors.

While we believe that AMD’s processor architectures make it difficult to exploit Variant 2, we continue to work closely with the industry on this threat. We have defined additional steps through a combination of processor microcode updates and OS patches that we will make available to AMD customers and partners to further mitigate the threat.

AMD will make optional microcode updates available to our customers and partners for Ryzen and EPYC processors starting this week. We expect to make updates available for our previous generation products over the coming weeks. These software updates will be provided by system providers and OS vendors; please check with your supplier for the latest information on the available option for your configuration and requirements.

Linux vendors have begun to roll out OS patches for AMD systems, and we are working closely with Microsoft on the timing for distributing their patches. We are also engaging closely with the Linux community on development of “return trampoline” (Retpoline) software mitigations.

GPZ Variant 3 (Rogue Data Cache Load or Meltdown) is not applicable to AMD processors.

We believe AMD processors are not susceptible due to our use of privilege level protections within paging architecture and no mitigation is required.

There have also been questions about GPU architectures. AMD Radeon GPU architectures do not use speculative execution and thus are not susceptible to these threats.

We will provide further updates as appropriate on this site as AMD and the industry continue our collaborative work to develop mitigation solutions to protect users from these latest security threats.

Mark Papermaster,

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Click to expand...

Source: AMD Processor Security | AMD

See also: Windows OS security update block for some AMD based devices - Windows 10 Forums

Tony K · Jan 11, 2018

Thanks for updating this, Shawn. *Smile

Not sure yet, but it doesn't look like they'll go back as far as my CPU. Might have to update either the board or chip or both. *Sad

We'll see what ASUS does.

:)

Andre Da Costa · Jan 11, 2018

KB4056892 fails to install after I installed KB4073290, cpu is vulnerable to Spectre

You should not install this update on a system with an AMD processor and that Ashampoo app should not be consulted.

Installing KB4056892 on AMD computers will brick it. Microsoft is aware of it and will be releasing an official fix for such computers this Friday that mitigates Spectre/Meltdown. So, keep blocking KB4056892 until then.

Rohn007 · Jan 11, 2018

KB4056892 (meltdown & spectre) installed: Am I safe?

You are safe enough for now. There are no known attacks, yet.

https://office-watch.com/2018/spectre-meltdown-...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan...

This my favorite, typical propaganda:

https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/intel-...

galaxys · Jan 11, 2018

I'm also hoping they will support my oldie but efficient MSI ADM notebook! At least be definitive on what they support!
AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 CPU, 4GB of Ram, its latest chipset & BIOS is legacy:
I have tried several times to update to Windows 10 CU v1709 but each time it downloads to around 80% an error message appears: "A hyper transport sync flood error occurred on last boot - Press F1 to resume" then it starts to restore previous version 1607 Windows! Never seen this error on my other Windows 10 builds...

stormy13 · Jan 12, 2018

We'll see what ASUS does.
Click to expand...

Nothing at all unless AMD releases a microcode update to them.

Tony K · Jan 12, 2018

Nothing at all unless AMD releases a microcode update to them.
Click to expand...

Do you think ASUS has some influence of what AMD may do? Or how about when they both start reading a civil class-action lawsuit that's bound to arrive, unless it already has. *Wink

Steve C · Jan 12, 2018

I thought the update for older AMD CPUs had been blocked. However, 2 days ago Windows Update tried to install the u[date on a 10 year old AMD based PC and bricked it. Fortunately, my Reflect backup came to the rescue. I've now blocked the update.

zbook · Apr 4, 2018

Performance impacts:
Understanding the performance impact of Spectre and Meltdown mitigations on Windows Systems Microsoft Secure

Windows 10: An Update on AMD Processor Security for Spectre and Meltdown

An Update on AMD Processor Security for Spectre and Meltdown

An Update on AMD Processor Security for Spectre and Meltdown

An Update on AMD Processor Security for Spectre and Meltdown

An Update on AMD Processor Security for Spectre and Meltdown

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