![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
- Joined
- May 18, 1997
- Messages
- 55,596
Undoubtedly there has been some loose talk about Meltdown and Spectre and its impacts on AMD CPUs. AMD just sent this over as it wants to be perfectly clear on its position on these threats.
We have seen some initial stories with a couple of inaccuracies so want to make sure we are being perfectly clear.
* There is no change to AMD’s position on our susceptibility to GPZ Variant 1 or GPZ Variant 2 (collectively called Spectre in many news reports).
* The update in relation to Variant 2 is that even though Variant 2 has not been demonstrated to work on AMD products due to differences in our micro architecture, out of an abundance of caution we are making optional micro code updates available to further contain the threat.
Again, to make it perfectly clear we have not changed our statement erlated to our susceptibility to Variant 2. Let me know if you have questions or need additional details.
These are Mark Papermaster's previous statements to refresh your memory.
An Update on AMD Processor Security
The public disclosure on January 3rd that multiple research teams had discovered security issues related to how modern microprocessors handle speculative execution has brought to the forefront the constant vigilance needed to protect and secure data. These threats seek to circumvent the microprocessor architecture controls that preserve secure data.
At AMD, security is our top priority and we are continually working to ensure the safety of our users as new risks arise. As a part of that vigilance, I wanted to update the community on our actions to address the situation.
** Google Project Zero (GPZ) Variant 1 (Bounds Check Bypass or Spectre) is applicable to AMD processors.
* We believe this threat can be contained with an operating system (OS) patch and we have been working with OS providers to address this issue.
* Microsoft is distributing patches for the majority of AMD systems now. We are working closely with them to correct an issue that paused the distribution of patches for some older AMD processors (AMD Opteron, Athlon and AMD Turion X2 Ultra families) earlier this week. We expect this issue to be corrected shortly and Microsoft should resume updates for these older processors by next week. For the latest details, please see Microsoft’s website.
* Linux vendors are also rolling out patches across AMD products now.
** GPZ Variant 2 (Branch Target Injection or Spectre) is applicable to AMD processors.
*While we believe that AMD’s processor architectures make it difficult to exploit Variant 2, we continue to work closely with the industry on this threat. We have defined additional steps through a combination of processor microcode updates and OS patches that we will make available to AMD customers and partners to further mitigate the threat.
* AMD will make optional microcode updates available to our customers and partners for Ryzen and EPYC processors starting this week. We expect to make updates available for our previous generation products over the coming weeks. These software updates will be provided by system providers and OS vendors; please check with your supplier for the latest information on the available option for your configuration and requirements.
*Linux vendors have begun to roll out OS patches for AMD systems, and we are working closely with Microsoft on the timing for distributing their patches. We are also engaging closely with the Linux community on development of “return trampoline” (Retpoline) software mitigations.
** GPZ Variant 3 (Rogue Data Cache Load or Meltdown) is not applicable to AMD processors.
* We believe AMD processors are not susceptible due to our use of privilege level protections within paging architecture and no mitigation is required.
There have also been questions about GPU architectures. AMD Radeon GPU architectures do not use speculative execution and thus are not susceptible to these threats.
We will provide further updates as appropriate on this site as AMD and the industry continue our collaborative work to develop mitigation solutions to protect users from these latest security threats.
Mark Papermaster,
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Discussion
We have seen some initial stories with a couple of inaccuracies so want to make sure we are being perfectly clear.
* There is no change to AMD’s position on our susceptibility to GPZ Variant 1 or GPZ Variant 2 (collectively called Spectre in many news reports).
* The update in relation to Variant 2 is that even though Variant 2 has not been demonstrated to work on AMD products due to differences in our micro architecture, out of an abundance of caution we are making optional micro code updates available to further contain the threat.
Again, to make it perfectly clear we have not changed our statement erlated to our susceptibility to Variant 2. Let me know if you have questions or need additional details.
These are Mark Papermaster's previous statements to refresh your memory.
An Update on AMD Processor Security
The public disclosure on January 3rd that multiple research teams had discovered security issues related to how modern microprocessors handle speculative execution has brought to the forefront the constant vigilance needed to protect and secure data. These threats seek to circumvent the microprocessor architecture controls that preserve secure data.
At AMD, security is our top priority and we are continually working to ensure the safety of our users as new risks arise. As a part of that vigilance, I wanted to update the community on our actions to address the situation.
** Google Project Zero (GPZ) Variant 1 (Bounds Check Bypass or Spectre) is applicable to AMD processors.
* We believe this threat can be contained with an operating system (OS) patch and we have been working with OS providers to address this issue.
* Microsoft is distributing patches for the majority of AMD systems now. We are working closely with them to correct an issue that paused the distribution of patches for some older AMD processors (AMD Opteron, Athlon and AMD Turion X2 Ultra families) earlier this week. We expect this issue to be corrected shortly and Microsoft should resume updates for these older processors by next week. For the latest details, please see Microsoft’s website.
* Linux vendors are also rolling out patches across AMD products now.
** GPZ Variant 2 (Branch Target Injection or Spectre) is applicable to AMD processors.
*While we believe that AMD’s processor architectures make it difficult to exploit Variant 2, we continue to work closely with the industry on this threat. We have defined additional steps through a combination of processor microcode updates and OS patches that we will make available to AMD customers and partners to further mitigate the threat.
* AMD will make optional microcode updates available to our customers and partners for Ryzen and EPYC processors starting this week. We expect to make updates available for our previous generation products over the coming weeks. These software updates will be provided by system providers and OS vendors; please check with your supplier for the latest information on the available option for your configuration and requirements.
*Linux vendors have begun to roll out OS patches for AMD systems, and we are working closely with Microsoft on the timing for distributing their patches. We are also engaging closely with the Linux community on development of “return trampoline” (Retpoline) software mitigations.
** GPZ Variant 3 (Rogue Data Cache Load or Meltdown) is not applicable to AMD processors.
* We believe AMD processors are not susceptible due to our use of privilege level protections within paging architecture and no mitigation is required.
There have also been questions about GPU architectures. AMD Radeon GPU architectures do not use speculative execution and thus are not susceptible to these threats.
We will provide further updates as appropriate on this site as AMD and the industry continue our collaborative work to develop mitigation solutions to protect users from these latest security threats.
Mark Papermaster,
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Discussion
