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| System Name | AlderLake |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master |
| Cooling | Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans |
| Memory | 32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36 |
| Video Card(s) | MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio |
| Storage | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2 |
| Display(s) | 23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p |
| Case | Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window |
| Audio Device(s) | Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533 |
| Power Supply | Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W |
| Mouse | Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless |
| Keyboard | RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless |
| Software | Windows 11 |
| Benchmark Scores | Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock |
Researchers warn that a bug in AMD’s chips would allow attackers to root into some of the most privileged portions of a computer—and that it has persisted in the company’s processors for decades.
SECURITY FLAWS IN your computer's firmware, the deep-seated code that loads first when you turn the machine on and controls even how its operating system boots up, have long been a target for hackers looking for a stealthy foothold. But only rarely does that kind of vulnerability appear not in the firmware of any particular computer maker, but in the chips found across hundreds of millions of PCs and servers. Now security researchers have found one such flaw that has persisted in AMD processors for decades, and that would allow malware to burrow deep enough into a computer's memory that, in many cases, it may be easier to discard a machine than to disinfect it.
At the Defcon hacker conference today, Enrique Nissim and Krzysztof Okupski, researchers from the security firm IOActive, plan to present a vulnerability in AMD chips they're calling Sinkclose. The flaw would allow hackers to run their own code in one of the most privileged modes of an AMD processor, known as System Management Mode, designed to be reserved only for a specific, protected portion of its firmware. IOActive's researchers warn that it affects virtually all AMD chips dating back to 2006, or possibly even earlier.
Nissim and Okupski note that exploiting the bug would require hackers to already have obtained relatively deep access to an AMD-based PC or server, but that the Sinkclose flaw would then allow them to plant their malicious code far deeper still. In fact, for any machine with one of the vulnerable AMD chips, the IOActive researchers warn that an attacker could infect the computer with malware known as a “bootkit” that evades antivirus tools and is potentially invisible to the operating system, while offering a hacker full access to tamper with the machine and surveil its activity. For systems with certain faulty configurations in how a computer maker implemented AMD's security feature known as Platform Secure Boot—which the researchers warn encompasses the large majority of the systems they tested—a malware infection installed via Sinkclose could be harder yet to detect or remediate, they say, surviving even a reinstallation of the operating system.
In a statement shared with WIRED, AMD acknowledged IOActive's findings, thanked the researchers for their work, and noted that it has “released mitigation options for its AMD EPYC datacenter products and AMD Ryzen PC products, with mitigations for AMD embedded products coming soon.” (The term “embedded,” in this case, refers to AMD chips found in systems such as industrial devices and cars.) For its EPYC processors designed for use in data-center servers, specifically, the company noted that it released patches earlier this year. AMD declined to answer questions in advance about how it intends to fix the Sinkclose vulnerability, or for exactly which devices and when, but it pointed to a full list of affected products that can be found on its website's security bulletin page.
Note:
In a background statement to WIRED, AMD emphasized the difficulty of exploiting Sinkclose: To take advantage of the vulnerability, a hacker has to already possess access to a computer's kernel, the core of its operating system. AMD compares the Sinkclose technique to a method for accessing a bank's safe-deposit boxes after already bypassing its alarms, the guards, and vault door.
www.wired.com
SECURITY FLAWS IN your computer's firmware, the deep-seated code that loads first when you turn the machine on and controls even how its operating system boots up, have long been a target for hackers looking for a stealthy foothold. But only rarely does that kind of vulnerability appear not in the firmware of any particular computer maker, but in the chips found across hundreds of millions of PCs and servers. Now security researchers have found one such flaw that has persisted in AMD processors for decades, and that would allow malware to burrow deep enough into a computer's memory that, in many cases, it may be easier to discard a machine than to disinfect it.
At the Defcon hacker conference today, Enrique Nissim and Krzysztof Okupski, researchers from the security firm IOActive, plan to present a vulnerability in AMD chips they're calling Sinkclose. The flaw would allow hackers to run their own code in one of the most privileged modes of an AMD processor, known as System Management Mode, designed to be reserved only for a specific, protected portion of its firmware. IOActive's researchers warn that it affects virtually all AMD chips dating back to 2006, or possibly even earlier.
Nissim and Okupski note that exploiting the bug would require hackers to already have obtained relatively deep access to an AMD-based PC or server, but that the Sinkclose flaw would then allow them to plant their malicious code far deeper still. In fact, for any machine with one of the vulnerable AMD chips, the IOActive researchers warn that an attacker could infect the computer with malware known as a “bootkit” that evades antivirus tools and is potentially invisible to the operating system, while offering a hacker full access to tamper with the machine and surveil its activity. For systems with certain faulty configurations in how a computer maker implemented AMD's security feature known as Platform Secure Boot—which the researchers warn encompasses the large majority of the systems they tested—a malware infection installed via Sinkclose could be harder yet to detect or remediate, they say, surviving even a reinstallation of the operating system.
In a statement shared with WIRED, AMD acknowledged IOActive's findings, thanked the researchers for their work, and noted that it has “released mitigation options for its AMD EPYC datacenter products and AMD Ryzen PC products, with mitigations for AMD embedded products coming soon.” (The term “embedded,” in this case, refers to AMD chips found in systems such as industrial devices and cars.) For its EPYC processors designed for use in data-center servers, specifically, the company noted that it released patches earlier this year. AMD declined to answer questions in advance about how it intends to fix the Sinkclose vulnerability, or for exactly which devices and when, but it pointed to a full list of affected products that can be found on its website's security bulletin page.
Note:
In a background statement to WIRED, AMD emphasized the difficulty of exploiting Sinkclose: To take advantage of the vulnerability, a hacker has to already possess access to a computer's kernel, the core of its operating system. AMD compares the Sinkclose technique to a method for accessing a bank's safe-deposit boxes after already bypassing its alarms, the guards, and vault door.
‘Sinkclose’ Flaw in Hundreds of Millions of AMD Chips Allows Deep, Virtually Unfixable Infections
Researchers warn that a bug in AMD’s chips would allow attackers to root into some of the most privileged portions of a computer—and that it has persisted in the company’s processors for decades.
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