• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Initial AMD Technical Assessment of CTS Labs Research

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,371 (7.67/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
On March 12, 2018, AMD received a communication from CTS Labs regarding research into security vulnerabilities involving some AMD products. Less than 24 hours later, the research firm went public with its findings. Security and protecting users' data is of the utmost importance to us at AMD and we have worked rapidly to assess this security research and develop mitigation plans where needed. This is our first public update on this research, and will cover both our technical assessment of the issues as well as planned mitigation actions.

The security issues identified by the third-party researchers are not related to the AMD "Zen" CPU architecture or the Google Project Zero exploits made public Jan. 3, 2018. Instead, these issues are associated with the firmware managing the embedded security control processor in some of our products (AMD Secure Processor) and the chipset used in some socket AM4 and socket TR4 desktop platforms supporting AMD processors.



As described in more detail above, AMD has rapidly completed its assessment and is in the process of developing and staging the deployment of mitigations. It's important to note that all the issues raised in the research require administrative access to the system, a type of access that effectively grants the user unrestricted access to the system and the right to delete, create or modify any of the folders or files on the computer, as well as change any settings.

Any attacker gaining unauthorized administrative access would have a wide range of attacks at their disposal well beyond the exploits identified in this research. Further, all modern operating systems and enterprise-quality hypervisors today have many effective security controls, such as Microsoft Windows Credential Guard in the Windows environment, in place to prevent unauthorized administrative access that would need to be overcome in order to affect these security issues. A useful clarification of the difficulties associated with successfully exploiting these issues can be found in this posting from Trail of Bits, an independent security research firm who were contracted by the third-party researchers to verify their findings.

The security issues identified can be grouped into three major categories. The table above describes the categories, the AMD assessment of impact, and planned actions.

AMD will provide additional updates on both our analysis of these issues and the related mitigation plans in the coming weeks.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

Durvelle27

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
6,703 (1.56/day)
Location
Memphis, TN
System Name Black Prometheus
Processor |AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard ASRock B550M Pro4|MSI X370 Gaming PLUS
Cooling Thermalright PA120 SE | AMD Stock Cooler
Memory G.Skill 64GB(2x32GB) 3200MHz | 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4
Video Card(s) |AMD R9 290
Storage Sandisk X300 512GB + WD Black 6TB+WD Black 6TB
Display(s) LG Nanocell85 49" 4K 120Hz + ACER AOPEN 34" 3440x1440 144Hz
Case DeepCool Matrexx 55 V3 w/ 6x120mm Intake + 3x120mm Exhaust
Audio Device(s) LG Dolby Atmos 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RMX850 Fully Modular| EVGA 750W G2
Mouse Logitech Trackman
Keyboard Logitech K350
Software Windows 10 EDU x64
Will intel make a statement since some of their chipsets are affected as well
 
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
11,687 (1.73/day)
System Name Compy 386
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard Asus
Cooling Air for now.....
Memory 64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s) 7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs and over 10TB spinning
Display(s) 56" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s) ATI HDMI
Mouse Logitech MX518
Keyboard Razer
Software A lot.
Benchmark Scores Its fast. Enough.
I wonder if anyone will come respond to this revelation, that administrative access is required, which means you would have complete control of a machine anyway...

Nah probably not, that would require more work than the typical "low quality" poster is capable of.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,778 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64
Will intel make a statement since some of their chipsets are affected as well

Their chipsets are not affected. Some board makers have thrown ASMedia chips on Intel boards, but that does not make the ASMedia parts an Intel part.

I wonder if anyone will come respond to this revelation, that administrative access is required, which means you would have complete control of a machine anyway...

Nah probably not, that would require more work than the typical "low quality" poster is capable of.

Administrative access has never granted you control of the negative rings.

Honestly, there shouldn't BE negative rings. But there are, and here we are.
 
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
3,881 (0.89/day)
Yes, there are vulnerabilities, but no, you won't be able to short AMD in the foreseeable future.

Enterprise interest in EPYC was only beginning. All the enterprises that were exploring EPYC will just have to wait a few more weeks for a product that's more secure without a performance impact.

I doubt if AMD will ever partner with ASMedia after 400-series. This raises chances of an NVIDIA nForce revival. NVIDIA already holds IP/licenses for chipset-related stuff, and it won't mind selling a $30-50 piece of silicon to clients, and a $70-100 silicon to enterprises. Enterprises will catalyze nForce's return because they trust the NVIDIA brand, and it made Opteron chipsets in the past.

I just looked again at the X470 Asus boards

2 out of the 3 still have a vulnerable ASMedia chip 1142




Maybe the TUF one does as well but is not visible due to the TUF logo
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
5,717 (0.97/day)
System Name Virtual Reality / Bioinformatics
Processor Undead CPU
Motherboard Undead TUF X99
Cooling Noctua NH-D15
Memory GSkill 128GB DDR4-3000
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra
Storage Samsung 960 Pro 1TB + 860 EVO 2TB + WD Black 5TB
Display(s) 32'' 4K Dell
Case Fractal Design R5
Audio Device(s) BOSE 2.0
Power Supply Seasonic 850watt
Mouse Logitech Master MX
Keyboard Corsair K70 Cherry MX Blue
VR HMD HTC Vive + Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 10 P
Meanwhile 3 more collaborating professors in the college of science at my institution has put down money for me to build TR based HEDT for their lab. At the end of the day performance/price speaks louder than any smearing campaign does.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
4,884 (0.76/day)
Location
Hong Kong
Processor Core i7-12700k
Motherboard Z690 Aero G D4
Cooling Custom loop water, 3x 420 Rad
Video Card(s) RX 7900 XTX Phantom Gaming
Storage Plextor M10P 2TB
Display(s) InnoCN 27M2V
Case Thermaltake Level 20 XT
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster AE-5 Plus
Power Supply FSP Aurum PT 1200W
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
I just looked again at the X470 Asus boards

2 out of the 3 still have a vulnerable ASMedia chip 1142




Maybe the TUF one does as well but is not visible due to the TUF logo
Given the relationship between ASUS and ASmedia, I doubt they will use any other chips in the forseeable future. :laugh:
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
16,062 (2.26/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/5za05v
I just looked again at the X470 Asus boards

2 out of the 3 still have a vulnerable ASMedia chip 1142




Maybe the TUF one does as well but is not visible due to the TUF logo

You're aware that ASMedia made the actual chipset, right? As in the X470 in this case. So using their USB 3.x host controllers are just an additional part that makes no real difference in these cases.
 
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
5,717 (0.97/day)
System Name Virtual Reality / Bioinformatics
Processor Undead CPU
Motherboard Undead TUF X99
Cooling Noctua NH-D15
Memory GSkill 128GB DDR4-3000
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra
Storage Samsung 960 Pro 1TB + 860 EVO 2TB + WD Black 5TB
Display(s) 32'' 4K Dell
Case Fractal Design R5
Audio Device(s) BOSE 2.0
Power Supply Seasonic 850watt
Mouse Logitech Master MX
Keyboard Corsair K70 Cherry MX Blue
VR HMD HTC Vive + Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 10 P
Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
852 (0.32/day)
Location
Italy
Processor i7 2600K
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/Gen 3
Cooling ZeroTherm FZ120
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws 4x4GB DDR3
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1060 6G Gaming X
Storage Samsung 830 Pro 256GB + WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Display(s) Samsung PX2370 + Acer AL1717
Case Antec 1200 v1
Audio Device(s) aune x1s
Power Supply Enermax Modu87+ 800W
Mouse Logitech G403
Keyboard Qpad MK80
Meanwhile 3 more collaborating professors in the college of science at my institution has put down money for me to build TR based HEDT for their lab. At the end of the day performance/price speaks louder than any smearing campaign does.

Nice way to circumvent the problem, i remember you a few days ago diminishing these findings and throw garbage at those CTS Labs, and now here you are playing the performance/price card to try and save their faces like you're some kind of employee or something. This was so low, honestly.
 

HTC

Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
4,604 (0.78/day)
Location
Portugal
System Name HTC's System
Processor Ryzen 5 2600X
Motherboard Asrock Taichi X370
Cooling NH-C14, with the AM4 mounting kit
Memory G.Skill Kit 16GB DDR4 F4 - 3200 C16D - 16 GTZB
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 480 OC 4 GB
Storage 1 Samsung NVMe 960 EVO 250 GB + 1 3.5" Seagate IronWolf Pro 6TB 7200RPM 256MB SATA III
Display(s) LG 27UD58
Case Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair TX 850M 80+ Gold
Mouse Razer Deathadder Elite
Software Ubuntu 19.04 LTS
Still think this is a Windows problem when using Zen based hardware.

Nowhere in the several CTS Labs topics does it mention any other OS other then Windows. If it were a Zen hardware problem, other OSs could also be used to make use of these exploits, no?
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,778 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64
Still think this is a Windows problem when using Zen based hardware.

Nowhere in the several CTS Labs topics does it mention any other OS other then Windows. If it were a Zen hardware problem, other OSs could also be used to make use of these exploits, no?

It would require tools, but according to the released exploits there is no reason it could not be done under other OSes. It is not a Windows flaw, more that the interface drivers and tools needed only exist for windows.
 

HTC

Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
4,604 (0.78/day)
Location
Portugal
System Name HTC's System
Processor Ryzen 5 2600X
Motherboard Asrock Taichi X370
Cooling NH-C14, with the AM4 mounting kit
Memory G.Skill Kit 16GB DDR4 F4 - 3200 C16D - 16 GTZB
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 480 OC 4 GB
Storage 1 Samsung NVMe 960 EVO 250 GB + 1 3.5" Seagate IronWolf Pro 6TB 7200RPM 256MB SATA III
Display(s) LG 27UD58
Case Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair TX 850M 80+ Gold
Mouse Razer Deathadder Elite
Software Ubuntu 19.04 LTS
It would require tools, but according to the released exploits there is no reason it could not be done under other OSes.

If the target system were using Linux instead of Windows, could these exploits still be carried out?

Seems to me these exploits take advantage of poor Windows security to be able to succeed.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,778 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64
If the target system were using Linux instead of Windows, could these exploits still be carried out?

Seems to me these exploits take advantage of poor Windows security to be able to succeed.

Yes, if you had the appropriate tools. The permissions are there. Root roughly = admin.
 

OneMoar

There is Always Moar
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
8,746 (1.71/day)
Location
Rochester area
System Name RPC MK2.5
Processor Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Pro V2
Cooling Enermax ETX-T50RGB
Memory CL16 BL2K16G36C16U4RL 3600 1:1 micron e-die
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC
Storage ADATA SX8200PRO NVME 512GB, Intel 545s 500GBSSD, ADATA SU800 SSD, 3TB Spinner
Display(s) LG Ultra Gear 32 1440p 165hz Dell 1440p 75hz
Case Phanteks P300 /w 300A front panel conversion
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus+ Platinum 750W
Mouse Kone burst Pro
Keyboard EVGA Z15
Software Windows 11 +startisallback
so much for unpatchable

out with a whimper and a fart
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,371 (7.67/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Let me try to do a Viceroy.

An Obituary of "AMD Flaws"

Yes, there are vulnerabilities, but no, you won't be able to short AMD in the foreseeable future. The only way short-selling research firms will make money (or recover 0.000% ROI) now is through riling up class-actions against AMD "for selling vulnerable products," which too will fail because plenty of precedents are being set in Meltdown/Spectre class-actions against Intel, and anything that succeeds against AMD will end up succeeding against Intel, too.

AMD has laid a straightforward mitigation/patching road-map for the 13 vulnerabilities. Enterprise interest in EPYC is in its infancy and only gaining momentum. All the enterprises that were exploring EPYC will now just have to wait a few more weeks for a product that's more secure, and without a performance impact. AMD Flaws only advertised EPYC.

I doubt if AMD will ever partner with ASMedia after 400-series. This raises chances of an NVIDIA nForce revival. NVIDIA already holds IP/licenses for chipset-related stuff, and it won't mind selling a $30-50 piece of silicon to clients, and a $70-100 silicon to enterprises. Enterprises will catalyze nForce's return because they trust the NVIDIA brand, and it made Opteron chipsets in the past.

Cybersec researcher Alex Stamos justified his Facebook hiring with these prophetic words: "Short-seller driven vulnerability research is going to end in tears. Hopefully due to lost money, and not because naive researchers go to prison."
 
Joined
Apr 30, 2006
Messages
1,181 (0.18/day)
Processor 7900
Motherboard Rampage Apex
Cooling H115i
Memory 64GB TridentZ 3200 14-14-14-34-1T
Video Card(s) Fury X
Case Corsair 740
Audio Device(s) 8ch LPCM via HDMI to Yamaha Z7 Receiver
Power Supply Corsair AX860
Mouse G903
Keyboard G810
Software 8.1 x64
I wonder if anyone will come respond to this revelation, that administrative access is required

For the masterkey exploit the system could be infected with a malware bios before the system is even delivered to the end user...even before the OS is installed; so you dont need admin access to compromise these systems. Anyone who might have physical access to the system at any time during manufacture or delivery could flash a malware bios with a small handheld device without even booting the operating system or even powering the system up. As of right now there very well might be systems out there that are infected and because of how the embedded "secure processor" operates the end user wouldn't have any way of knowing the system is compromised. Even systems that are completely isolated from any network could have been infected during manufacture/delivery and are such compromised.

Hopefully AMD can fix this exploit and then every system out there will need to reflash the bios to confirm its free of any malware.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,454 (0.71/day)
Processor AMD 5900x
Motherboard Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling Hardware Labs
Memory G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s) RTX 3090
Storage Sabrent
Display(s) Samsung G9
Case Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s) Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Corsair K95
Didn't they say it would take AMD up to a year to patch this, thus they erred on the side of public safety and gave AMD no time? Up to a year to patch if they even could lol.

For the masterkey exploit the system could be infected with a malware bios before the system is even delivered to the end user...even before the OS is installed; so you dont need admin access to compromise these systems. Anyone who might have physical access to the system at any time during manufacture or delivery could flash a malware bios with a small handheld device without even booting the operating system or even powering the system up. As of right now there very well might be systems out there that are infected and because of how the embedded "secure processor" operates the end user wouldn't have any way of knowing the system is compromised. Even systems that are completely isolated from any network could have been infected during manufacture/delivery and are such compromised.

Hopefully AMD can fix this exploit and then every system out there will need to reflash the bios to confirm its free of any malware.

Are you shittin' me? Do you not see the folly in your own logic?
 
Joined
Jun 19, 2010
Messages
401 (0.08/day)
Location
Germany
Processor Ryzen 5600X
Video Card(s) RTX 3050
Software Win11
honestly, everything with a firmware could´ve been compromised in that way.

this whole thing will end up like:
A kitchen-knife orginally ment for bread and butter works, could be be exploited with no deeper metalurgic or martial art knowings as a murderer-weapon.

thats obvious
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,232 (1.70/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
honestly, everything with a firmware could´ve been compromised in that way.

this whole thing will end up like:
A kitchen-knife orginally ment for bread and butter works, could be be exploited with no deeper metalurgic or martial art knowings as a murderer-weapon.

thats obvious

Agree - I think it's very disingenuous the way they advertised (and that's what this was, advertising) these flaws...

AMD nailed it with their response
"Any attacker gaining unauthorized administrative access would have a wide range of attacks at their disposal well beyond the exploits identified in this research. "

CTS, in a way, are right, these ARE flaws, and they do need to be fixed -- just as any sane household should store their kitchen knives in a way to prevent them from cutting things that aren't food; but coming up with a website called "kitchenkniveskill.com" and pointing out a single knife company as the culprit is extremely dishonest. Especially when the site was originally targeting a different knife company altogether, and then pivoted because they saw a larger gain. And in essence, any household that already stores their knives appropriately is virtually immune to these particular flaws.

The whole thing is a technically true but realistically dishonest mess.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,778 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64
honestly, everything with a firmware could´ve been compromised in that way.

No. This is why signatures exist: To avoid being able to flash just anything.

Pascal is an excellent example of an unmoddable bios using signatures.

The whole thing is a technically true but realistically dishonest mess.

I agree with that.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
25,559 (6.48/day)
Are you shittin' me? Do you not see the folly in your own logic?
Actually, he's right. To flash a bios/uefi firmware you don't need admin access, you only need physical access. The only situation were you need admin access is if you are going to render the attack remotely.

Pascal is an excellent example of an unmoddable bios using signatures.
Which is crazy stupid.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,232 (1.70/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
136 (0.05/day)
I wonder if anyone will come respond to this revelation, that administrative access is required, which means you would have complete control of a machine anyway...

Nah probably not, that would require more work than the typical "low quality" poster is capable of.

Don't expect too much of administrative privileige. Admin priv can't do everything, but a Secure Processor/Management Engine can.
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
1,133 (0.21/day)
Location
Republic of Texas
System Name [H]arbringer
Processor 4x 61XX ES @3.5Ghz (48cores)
Motherboard SM GL
Cooling 3x xspc rx360, rx240, 4x DT G34 snipers, D5 pump.
Memory 16x gskill DDR3 1600 cas6 2gb
Video Card(s) blah bigadv folder no gfx needed
Storage 32GB Sammy SSD
Display(s) headless
Case Xigmatek Elysium (whats left of it)
Audio Device(s) yawn
Power Supply Antec 1200w HCP
Software Ubuntu 10.10
Benchmark Scores http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1780855 http://www.hwbot.org/submission/2158678 http://ww
For the masterkey exploit the system could be infected with a malware bios before the system is even delivered to the end user...even before the OS is installed; so you dont need admin access to compromise these systems. Anyone who might have physical access to the system at any time during manufacture or delivery could flash a malware bios with a small handheld device without even booting the operating system or even powering the system up. As of right now there very well might be systems out there that are infected and because of how the embedded "secure processor" operates the end user wouldn't have any way of knowing the system is compromised. Even systems that are completely isolated from any network could have been infected during manufacture/delivery and are such compromised.

Hopefully AMD can fix this exploit and then every system out there will need to reflash the bios to confirm its free of any malware.

You can force flash just about anything with physical access... If you buy a x79 board from bang good you can be sure that rom is infected...
 
Top