TECH NEWS – The fix significantly reduces the processor’s performance, but only in specific applications…

The latest vulnerability in AMD processors is called Inception. This security flaw misleads the CPU into starting a repeating function, which could lead to a potential data leak and could be a significant threat to companies with sensitive data if it happens. All Zen processors are affected, and while AMD has confirmed the vulnerability, it has not yet published a fix, nor has the company, led by Dr. Lisa Su, said how much of a performance hit there is if the new microcode is applied.

Phoronix has started testing the fix. A kernel-based solution works for AMD’s Zen 1 and Zen 2 processors, but Zen 3 and Zen 4 CPUs must wait. AMD has already released a patched microcode for the Family 19h processors, but it only covers the Epyc CPUs used in servers. Phoronix obtained this fix and applied it to an Epyc 7763 processor. The results are surprising, but it should be added that multiple levels of a solution can cause the degree of performance change to vary.

Phoronix tested more popular applications (e.g., Blender, Mozilla Firefox) and concluded that user programs had little performance degradation. Still, once you switch to 7zip compression, even a layperson can see the 13% drop! But for professional, intensive applications (e.g., MariaDB), the site has already seen a 50% drop, so applications intended for data processing will be held back by the new, secure microcode…

A few days ago, we wrote that the Downfall vulnerability affected half of Intel’s Core processors released in the last decade and a half (6 out of 13 generations…). The fix resulted in a drop of over 50% in AVX-512 applications (e.g., in the case of PS3 emulation, it can certainly be felt on affected CPUs). AMD must move quickly to release the fix for mainstream consumer products.

Source: WCCFTech