Microsoft this week released another round of software and microcode updates designed to address the CPU vulnerability known as Spectre Variant 2.
Microsoft has been releasing software mitigations for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities since January, shortly after researchers disclosed the flaws.
A new standalone security update (4078407) enables by default the mitigations against Spectre Variant 2 in all supported versions of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016. Alternatively, advanced users can manually enable these mitigations through registry settings.
The company announced in early March that microcode updates from Intel will be delivered to Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 users through the Microsoft Update Catalog. The first round of updates covered devices with Intel Skylake processors and the list was later expanded to include Coffee Lake and Kaby Lake CPUs.
Broadwell and Haswell processors have now also been added to the list, which currently includes tens of Intel CPUs across roughly 30 microarchitecture categories. Intel announced the availability of microcode updates for Broadwell and Haswell CPUs in late February.
Meltdown and Spectre allow malicious applications to bypass memory isolation and access sensitive data. Meltdown attacks are possible due to CVE-2017-5754, while Spectre attacks are possible due to CVE-2017-5753 (Variant 1) and CVE-2017-5715 (Variant 2). Meltdown and Spectre Variant 1 can be resolved with software updates, but Spectre Variant 2 requires microcode patches as well.
Last month, Microsoft released out-of-band updates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to address a serious privilege escalation vulnerability introduced by the Meltdown mitigations.
Related: AMD, Microsoft Release Spectre Patches
Related: Microsoft Patches for Meltdown Introduced Severe Flaw
Related: Intel Shares Details on New CPUs With Spectre, Meltdown Protections
Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
More from Eduard Kovacs
- Vulnerabilities in Honda eCommerce Platform Exposed Customer, Dealer Data
- Barracuda Urges Customers to Replace Hacked Email Security Appliances
- Google Patches Third Chrome Zero-Day of 2023
- ChatGPT Hallucinations Can Be Exploited to Distribute Malicious Code Packages
- AntChain, Intel Create New Privacy-Preserving Computing Platform for AI Training
- Several Major Organizations Confirm Being Impacted by MOVEit Attack
- Verizon 2023 DBIR: Human Error Involved in Many Breaches, Ransomware Cost Surges
- Ransomware Group Used MOVEit Exploit to Steal Data From Dozens of Organizations
Latest News
- Vulnerabilities in Honda eCommerce Platform Exposed Customer, Dealer Data
- North Korean Hackers Blamed for $35 Million Atomic Wallet Crypto Theft
- Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Enterprise Collaboration Solutions
- Barracuda Urges Customers to Replace Hacked Email Security Appliances
- Android’s June 2023 Security Update Patches Exploited Arm GPU Vulnerability
- BBC, British Airways, Novia Scotia Among First Big-Name Victims in Global Supply-Chain Hack
- Sysdig Introduces CNAPP With Realtime CDR
- Stay Focused on What’s Important
