Windows Bitdefender had recently disclosed details about a new speculative execution security vulnerability Intel CPUs back in 2012. This vulnerability can include stealing passwords or other similarly sensitive information from your Windows computer. Now, this new vulnerability’s name is SWAPGS that can also cause inactivity in all the latest patches recently released for the notorious Spectre and Meltdown flaws. Bitdefender said that this issue came into view a year ago and they were working on fixing it with Intel and other ecosystem stakeholders to make sure to reduce its effect. However, they didn’t say anything to the public until now. But at the ongoing Black Hat security conference, Bitdefender released a whitepaper which has details in it regarding the research.
Now, this flaw is trending on everybody’s news feed nowadays, and it is known as the Spectre and Meltdown speculative execution vulnerabilities. And along with this, other similar issues have been found too. Moreover, since all Intel CPUs starts with Ivy Bridge generation, they first released it in 2012. And people faced this issue due to the fundamental design of the Windows architecture. Although AMD stated that their products are safe by this, no research confirmed this statement.
Speculative execution keeps an eye on the CPU’s performance, including speeding information and running instructions that can be helpful in the future. Moreover, it will make sure that the CPU pipeline is not depending on data that will come through, and it can spontaneously utilize its all resources.
Intel has stated in a statement, “Intel, along with industry partners, determined the issue was better addressed at the software level and connected the researchers to Microsoft. It takes the ecosystem working together to keep products and data more secure collectively, and Microsoft is coordinating this issue.“
