Intel processor flaw poses security risk

British technology site The Register reported Wednesday the discovered flaw affected the kernel memory on Intel x86 processor chips made over the past decade.

It cited unnamed programmers who had claimed that the defect allowed users of normal applications to discern the layout or content of protected areas on the chips.

This could make it possible for hackers to exploit security bugs, or worse, expose secure information such as passwords, thus compromising individual computers or even entire server networks.

The register said programmers working on the Linux open-source operating system were already overhauling the affected memory areas, while Microsoft was expected to issue a patch for its Windows OS next Tuesday.

Boost to AMD?

But while the security risk may soon be under control, the trouble wouldn't end there. "Crucially, the updates in question to both Linux and Windows will incur a performance hit on Intel products," The Register warned.

"The effects are being benchmarked; however we're looking at a ballpark figure of 5 to 30 percent slowdown, depending on the task and the processor model."

Competing chipmaker AMD said its chips were not vulnerable to the types of attacks that the fix for the Intel chips were intended to address by isolating the kernel memory.

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hg/jd  (Reuters, AP)