Question Flaw in AMD CPUs

[thilanliyan]

AMD CPUs for the past 9 years are vulnerable to data leak attacks

It's not just Intel chips that are vulnerable to hard-to-fix security flaws. Researchers at the Graz University of Technology have detailed a pair of side channel attacks under the "Take A Way" name that can leak data from AMD processors dating back to 2011, whether it's an old Athlon 64 X2, a...

www.engadget.com

Not really sure how serious this is. Should the average person be worried? Is physical access required?

 

[Hitman928]

First, there's a stickied thread for all CPU vulnerability discussion where this was already posted.

Second, this is nothing to worry about, physical access isn't required but if your system is already up to date, this 'attack' is already mitigated.

 

[Gideon]

Already discussed here:

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forums.anandtech.com

AMD doesn't think it it's a new side-channel attack (therefore no fix required):

Take A Way
3/7/20

We are aware of a new white paper that claims potential security exploits in AMD CPUs, whereby a malicious actor could manipulate a cache-related feature to potentially transmit user data in an unintended way. The researchers then pair this data path with known and mitigated software or speculative execution side channel vulnerabilities. AMD believes these are not new speculation-based attacks.

AMD continues to recommend the following best practices to help mitigate against side-channel issues:

• Keeping your operating system up-to-date by operating at the latest version revisions of platform software and firmware, which include existing mitigations for speculation-based vulnerabilities
• Following secure coding methodologies
• Implementing the latest patched versions of critical libraries, including those susceptible to side channel attacks
• Utilizing safe computer practices and running antivirus software

 

[Markfw]

see above, already a sticky for this., locking