Tuesday, November 21st 2017
Researchers Find Glaring Intel ME Security Flaws, Company Outs Detection Tool
Security researchers have found glaring security flaws with Intel Management Engine, the on-chip micro SoC that, besides governing the functionality of the processor, provides on-chip management and security features. These security flaws render "potentially millions" of PCs and notebooks, based on Intel processors, according to the researchers. Intel on Monday released a Detection Tool application that lets you identify vulnerabilities in the Management Engine of your Intel processor-powered PC, and suggests updates to Intel Management Engine drivers, or points to BIOS updates from your PC manufacturer.
Updates to Intel ME are specific to TXE 3.0 (trusted execution engine version 3.0), which is featured on processors based on "Skylake," "Kaby Lake," and "Coffee Lake" micro-architectures, across client- and enterprise market segments, and Atom processors released in the past three years. Intel chronicled this security flaw further under Security Advisory 86, and released the SA-00086 Detection Tool.
Source:
Wired
Updates to Intel ME are specific to TXE 3.0 (trusted execution engine version 3.0), which is featured on processors based on "Skylake," "Kaby Lake," and "Coffee Lake" micro-architectures, across client- and enterprise market segments, and Atom processors released in the past three years. Intel chronicled this security flaw further under Security Advisory 86, and released the SA-00086 Detection Tool.
45 Comments on Researchers Find Glaring Intel ME Security Flaws, Company Outs Detection Tool
For power users it's mainly Group Policy that allows more settings finetuning. Also has some enterprise features. But buying a 2000$ CPU and skimping on OS to save 20-80$ makes no sense to me.
Pro version also has better control for the infamous Windows Update and it's forced updates.
My name is Dave. I am a PC enthusiast. I do motherboard reviews for this lovely site called TechPowerUp, and get hardware from the companies that make them and then test the products to the extent of their capabilities. Right now, I am using the ASRock X299-ITX/ac, and in order to truly test it's VRM capabilities, I have installed the 7980XE CPU. If I am going to recommend this board, I want to make sure that it is truly capable of pushing this CPU to decent clocks.
The differences in what different versions of Windows offers, especially with this board and its 4 SO-DIMM slots (which limits maximum memory you can install) makes no difference for this testing.
So, I didn't buy a single thing, and yeah, it makes sense for me to do this. I didn't skimp on anything, because it's all free for me. I could have installed the Pro version easily for testing (it's a simply selection when installing the OS), but I try to replicate common installation scenarios.
Thanks for the concern though. I'll be sure to keep that in mind when writing the review for this product. You'll note that when the review is published, you'll see screenshots of a 7900X CPU installed, too. I don't simply install one CPU and test a board and call it done like some other sites might do. I have also played with the 7960X too, but moved from the 16-core to the 18-core because it draws a bit more power. My 16-core is actually one damn fine CPU, to be honest, so I needed to change to a CPU that wasn't quite as good.
Have a Great day!
:lovetpu:
These systems are flawed to the core, and should be disablable in bios.
from celeron J1900 ( w8.1 pro 64b ) with latest bios ( years old ) i got this, so i'm fine :-D
This was funny.
Not surprising as the IME software is not installed or provisioned. And I'm not doing so. Still, I wonder...
This is the one I got: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZAFH54/?tag=tec06d-20
[LEFT] court, secret or not idc, to compel Intel to do so.[/LEFT]
Nothing new in Win Update today.
Nothing on mobo maker support site (MSI)
Intel's ME is not a government purposed technology. It is meant for business and enterprise sectors for asset auditing and management. Governments can utilize the technology to the same effect, but it was not specifically designed for them. Additionally, testing has already been conducted the prove the vulnerability can only be taken advantage of if ME is enabled AND provisioned, which requires a software element.