Intel releases new security patch for Spectre and Meltdown

Intel releases new security patch for Spectre and Meltdown

Intel has announced a new fix for its OEM partners to fight Spectre and Meltdown, the memory leakage problem that affect all the computer hardwares. The new update is available for  6th, 7th and 8th Generation Intel® Core™ product lines as well as our latest Intel Core™ X-series processor family. It also includes our recently announced Intel Xeon Scalable and Intel Xeon D processors for data center systems.

Intel released production microcode updates to our OEM customers and partners for Kaby Lake- and Coffee Lake-based platforms, plus additional Skylake-based platforms.

The various problems presented in January by security researchers have to be addressed by a mix of fixes at the application, OS, kernel and microarchitecture level. This meltdown forced Linux, Windows to redesign their kernels. This patch is the latter, and it replaces an earlier one that was found to be unstable.

“The new microcode will be made available in most cases through OEM firmware updates,” Intel said.

Intel is planning to release more firmware updates for a wider range of processor families. According to the company’s microcode update document (PDF), beta firmware exists for its 2nd generation Sandy Bridge, 3rd generation Ivy Bridge, 4th generation Haswell, and 5th generation Broadwell lines, though there is no timetable on when exactly they will reach production status.

Intel has asked customer to keep their system updated, as new update will be available soon.