WARNING Intel Broadwell / Haswell CPUs and Meltdown / Spectre patches

[simbol 5,819]

Folks,

Please note there are several reports of Intel Broadwell / Haswell CPUs causing operating systems several systems reboots / blue screens after applying the Intel Microcode updates.

This morning I received at work a communication from Dell with a warning as follow:

*** Intel has communicated a potential issue with the microcode included in BIOS updates for the Intel 4th generation (Haswell) and Intel 5th generation (Broadwell) processors. This issue is currently under investigation by Intel and we will provide further updates as available. Refer to Intel’s Security Issue Update: Addressing Reboot Issues, for more information.

On a separate communication I received another warning from Dell as follow:

*** Intel has communicated a potential issue with the microcode included in BIOS updates for Intel Xeon Haswell and Broadwell processors listed below. This issue is currently under investigation by Intel and we will provide further updates as available. See Intel's statement for more details.

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1200 v4 Product Family
Intel® Xeon® Processor E5v4 Product Family
Intel® Xeon® Processor E7v3 Product Family
Intel® Xeon® Processor E5v3 Product Family
Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1200 v3 Product Family

Intel oficial statement:  https://newsroom.intel.com/news/intel-security-issue-update-addressing-reboot-issues/

Conclusion

It seems that Haswell and Broadwell processors used for Clients PCs, Laptops and Servers are affected by a new microcode bug  (caused by the latest firmware updates) which will render your system unusable, so if you own any of these processors please do not install any BIOS updates until Intel addresses the issues, if you have applied a new BIOS and you own a 4th / 5th Broadwell processor and you are experiencing several CTD, Blue Screens, etc. the solution would be to revert to a previous BIOS until the problem is addressed by Intel.

Best Regards,
Simbol

[martin-w 3,235]

As I posted earlier, seems AMD systems are having issues too. The inevitable consequence of having to rush out updates I suppose.

 

 

[simbol 5,819]

Correct.

S.

[Jude Bradley 659]

Also read.

https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/archives/2018/0115.html