Windows 10: GRC InSpectre Shows Meltdown and Spectre Patched??

GRC InSpectre Shows Meltdown and Spectre Patched? Re: Doesn't One of These Patches Require Flashing The Bios?

I did not run Gibson's InSpectre some three weeks or so ago when I was unceremoniously updated from 1703 to 1709. I thought that either Meltdown or Spectre patches required a bios update from the manufacturer. I have not updated my bios yet when I ran InSpectre this morning it shows both Meltdown and Spectre patched. What's up with that? TIA.






did not install this:





did one of these updates patch either Spectre or Meltdown? TIA. Win 10 pro.





Thinkpad P51 BIOS ver





:)

 

virus

Hi Peter, click the link to download InSpectre, it will inform you if you are vulnerable or not to Spectre or Meltdown:

GRC | InSpectre  

 

meltdown cpu

system meltdown protected:no

system is spectre protected:no

performance:good

 

The i7-7700 counts as a "Kaby Lake" processor. MS issued Update tutorial on how to do that, based on KB4090007, last Friday. I must presume you have it installed on that system.
HTH,
--Ed--

 

Thanks for the info however in the pic that I posted above I do not see KB4090007 installed so how did I get updated? Also if I go to uninstall updates I see this below and no installed/ uninstall KB4090007. Thanks.

 

OK, then: this is non-obvious. I figured that if the items were showing patched, you must've applied the MS fix. Did Lenovo offer an earlier BIOS/UEFI firmware fix around the beginning of the year? While some of those were flawed, some of them did indeed fix the problem. Microsoft, for example, got a patch out early in January, and so did some other vendors, with varying degrees of success. Otherwise, I have NO CLUE as to how your P51 got fixed. Sorry to have gone barking down a false trail. The Kaby Lake connection seemed pretty sure to me. But apparently, I was wrong about that, so I apologize for my mistake.
--Ed--

 

@EdTittel

>Did Lenovo offer an earlier BIOS/UEFI firmware fix around the beginning of the year?

BINGO! I have this BIOS version installed, 1.17:

On 22 Dec 2017 Thinkpad P51 BIOS v1.17 BIOS update was released on the Lenovo Support website. The Readme file advised it included an enhancement to address CVE-2017-5715, viz. Meltdown / Spectre vulnerability.

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Securit...t/td-p/3948173

According to the link above the BIOS version I have 1.17 can be problematic or sketchy and if you believe what is written it was actually pulled (that makes me feel good)

Also in the pic above there is a "critical" BIOS update available to version 1.20. You can also see it available here:

Downloads Detail ds121296

So late Dec. when this BIOS update was made available I had only had the new notebook for a few weeks and while I can not actually recall flashing the BIOS to 1.17 apparently I did no doubt under the spell of a brand spanking new computer : )

Sooo....While the machine appears to be stable I have read more then one article that indicates the fixes for Spectre and Meltdown may not be ready for Prime Time and I am suspicious of flashing up to 1.20 since all things considered I am mostly happy when the computer just boots up successfully each morning. In fact I have been toying with the idea if using the InSpectre tool to disable the Spectre and Meltdown patches now though I know that this is ill advised.

>The Kaby Lake connection seemed pretty sure to me. But apparently, I was wrong about that, so I apologize for my mistake.

Absolutely no need to apologize. You and others have helped me so much with other questions. Since the second week of December last year I have gone from an Intel Celeron processor 900 (win 7) to the Lenovo P51 Thinkpad Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor and the jump was dramatic to say the least and no doubt I will have many more questions to come. Thanks again for your time and assistance.

 

If 1.20 is out as an improvement to 1.17, I'd be inclined to upgrade to take advantage of the learning that's occurred since the first round of BIOS/UEFI updates came out. Lenovo has been VERY cautious in its second round of updates, so I'd be more inclined to jump ahead than stay behind myself. That said, conventional wisdom on BIOS/UEFI Upgrades is to install them only if you can't do without them. Given that your P51 is behaving itself, you can take a couple weeks to a month to see how many of the "other pioneers" come back with arrows in their backs before deciding whether or not to apply the upgrade.
HTH,
--Ed--

 

Heheh! I like the "other pioneers" tag rather then the relatively pedantic "early adopters." Thanks.