10 points

How about a Linux Patch that reports binary blobs wirh no source AS __ Security Vulnerabilities __

Or are we not allowed to criticize the back doors that hackers gain access to.

permalink
report
reply
26 points

The real thing is: can you update the microcode of older CPUs? If not then it’s a marketing strategy.

permalink
report
reply
16 points

It sounds like the criterion is “is newer microcode available”. So it doesn’t look like a marketing strategy to sell new CPUs.

permalink
report
parent
reply
22 points
*

I mean, it’s still good to know if you’re vulnerable right (for sake of discussion)?

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

The article does specify that it would report if the newest version of the firmware for the CPU family is not installed, so it doesn’t seem like this is that particular kind of BS.

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

@GolfNovemberUniform @captainkangaroo Yes and Linux includes software to do this.

permalink
report
parent
reply
18 points

Microcode would not be a concern with that particular CPU.

permalink
report
reply
1 point

So the patch is just copying the existing warning to a standard location?

permalink
report
reply
5 points

How does it know if the microcode is outdated?

permalink
report
reply
15 points

@ryannathans @captainkangaroo I’m going to make the wild assumption that the kernel will have a table of the current microcode versions at the time of it’s release, but I doubt that
will get updated except by kernel upgrades.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Debian-based distros (and probably most othera as well) actually have a package called “intel-microcode” which gets updated fairly regularly.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

@DaPorkchop_ Oddly, if you build your own kernel and remove the system provided one, the package gets automatically removed as well which is weird, because it is really still needed regardless.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

There’s probably an efivar that reads the current microcode version.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

If that’s the case, why wouldn’t they put the microcode in the kernel?

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

@ryannathans Why bloat the kernel with the microcode for every intel processor that might need it (and there is a similar thing for AMD) when you don’t have that specific processor? It does make more sense for it to be a separate, especially on memory constrained systems. I mean if you’ve got 256GB of RAM probably not a big deal but if you’ve got 256MB a big deal.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Linux

!linux@lemmy.ml

Create post

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word “Linux” in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

  • Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
  • No misinformation
  • No NSFW content
  • No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Community stats

  • 8K

    Monthly active users

  • 3.7K

    Posts

  • 48K

    Comments