New ZombieLoad Side-Channel Attack Variant: TSX Asynchronous Abort

[zxy_thf]

Demonstration (quite scary and effective):

In short: this new vulnerability again mostly affects cloud providers and users who run untrusted random code off the net.

A rewritten one: this new vulnerability again affects everyone (unless you disable JS in your browser or hosting the service completely in your private server/datacenter).

[wswartzendruber]

Demonstration (quite scary and effective):

Again, if you're not running untrusted code on your system (a web browser with enabled JS does run it), there's nothing to worry about.

In short: this new vulnerability again mostly affects cloud providers and users who run untrusted random code off the net.

That's basically EVERYONE.

[zxy_thf]

I think you're missing the bigger picture.
The big picture is that there is a new class of exploits out there.
And one of the vendors is looking more like a big sieve from my point of view.
Actually the sieve is looking like a total rot and rusted away, leaving nothing but a gaping hole.

So if you're crafting a zeroday for this class of exploits, one of the vendors is looking like the more vulnerable target.
And you can _bet_ that people are working on unknown exploits in this class.

I think it's time for processor designer to hire some formal verification people to tackle with this mess.
Otherwise there will be more and more exploits in the wild - unless processor designer stopped pursuing newer micro-arch for higher IPC.

[Guest]

I guess the joke about Intel CPUs losing performance on a monthly basis is as true as ever. Who knows how many of these are under embargo right now?

[wswartzendruber]

"Zombieland" - is that the name of the exploit, or the re-branding of all of Intel's chip lines?

I feel like "can't we just rip the bandage off all at once and do all the exploits and mitigations in one big batch?" But then, I'd probably be stuck with a computer that would never boot again.

Ah yes, the upcoming Core i9 11900ZL (ZombieLand), which will be part of the upcoming "Spectre Lake" architecture.

[skeevy420]

Ah yes, the upcoming Core i9 11900ZL (ZombieLand), which will be part of the upcoming "Spectre Lake" architecture.

As well as the upcoming Xeon 9000ZLMF multi-processor series based on the Spectre Lake cores and made with their new Meltdown-Path Fabric to add some extra "MF" to your day.

[birdie]

That's basically EVERYONE.

I use NoScript whenever possible, so I'm not really concerned.

[milkylainen]

I guess the joke about Intel CPUs losing performance on a monthly basis is as true as ever. Who knows how many of these are under embargo right now?

I guess what scares me the most is exactly all the unknowns as of yet. This class of exploits is just flourishing.
So you can have your mega-deluxe-super-secure-something-machine only to get fudged by totally obscure microarch fuckups that operating systems traditionally have been shielded from by abstraction. So all this security and hardware that you spent $$$ on gets translated to squat.

[milkylainen]

I think it's time for processor designer to hire some formal verification people to tackle with this mess.
Otherwise there will be more and more exploits in the wild - unless processor designer stopped pursuing newer micro-arch for higher IPC.

They'd better get paid handsomely.
I'd imagine severe loss of hair and acquiring muscle twitching tics from just trying to grasp the magnitude of effort.

[hotaru]

I guess what scares me the most is exactly all the unknowns as of yet. This class of exploits is just flourishing.
So you can have your mega-deluxe-super-secure-something-machine only to get fudged by totally obscure microarch fuckups that operating systems traditionally have been shielded from by abstraction. So all this security and hardware that you spent $$$ on gets translated to squat.

especially now that we have multiple examples (including this vulnerability) of Intel waiting a full year to do anything at all about security vulnerabilities.