Skip to main content

Researchers Exploit a Secret Feature in Intel Chipsets

https://ift.tt/2HVZukc Security researchers have discovered a previously unknown feature in the Intel chipsets, which could allow an attacker to intercept data from the computer memory. The feature called Intel Visualization of Internal Signals Architecture (Intel VISA) is said to be a utility that is bundled by the chipmaker for testing on the manufacturing lines. Although Intel doesn't publicly disclose the existence of Intel VISA and is extremely secretive about it, the researchers were able to find several ways to enable the feature on the Intel chipsets and capture the data from the CPU. As a per presentation made by the researchers Mark Ermolov and Maxim Goryachy of Positive Technologies at the ongoing Blackhat Asia 2019 conference in Singapore, their exploits of the Intel chipsets don't require any hardware modifications or special equipment. One of the techniques shared by the researchers involved vulnerabilities detailed in Intel-SA-00086 advisory that give access to Intel Management Engine (Intel ME), in turn helping enable VISA. Access to Intel VISA makes the computer's entire data vulnerable and obtainable for the attacker. Intel underplayed the exploit and told ZDNet that the VISA issue requires physical access to the machines and the Intel-SA-00086 vulnerabilities have already been mitigated. The researchers however disagreed with Intel's comments and reportedly said in an online discussion that the patched Intel firmware can be downgraded using Intel ME, making the chipset vulnerable and opening the door for accessing Intel VISA. Mark Ermolov also noted that the vulnerabilities detailed in Intel-SA-00086 are just one of the ways to access VISA, and there are other methods as well, including Orange Mystery and Intel JTAG password. The technical details of these exploits can be found in the presentation slides shared on Blackhat Asia website.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Friends in all the wrong places

https://ift.tt/2BVSIXZ Striding past the glistening rows of duty-free liquor, watches and perfume, the two international travellers moved like men who could fight. Richard ''Gelly'' Gelemanovic had broad shoulders and a confident gait, while his companion, convicted heroin trafficker Amad ''Jay'' Malkoun, had a physique honed during his 16-year stint in prison. It was July 3, 2003, and Malkoun was recently out of jail, having gained public notoriety after being charged in 1988 as a key player in the state's biggest drug syndicate, which had been busted with $5.5 million of heroin. Amad 'Jay' Malkoun was described by police as 'a powerful standover man'. The federal police who were secretly watching Malkoun at Melbourne's international airport described him in a report as ''a powerful stand-over man … actively involved in the Melbourne drug trade''. The profession of his travelling companion, the man Jay called ...

HMM: Former Mitt Romney Adviser Sits on Board of Ukrainian Gas Company That Employed Hunter Biden - Big League Politics

https://ift.tt/2m3yRRU Yesterday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) piled on President Donald Trump after rough transcripts were released of his July conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trending: Shepard Smith Ordered to Stand Down After Feud with Tucker Carlson Romney is clearly more concerned with Trump’s innocuous diplomatic conversation than the potentially criminal actions of former Vice President Joe Biden, who bragged publicly about abusing his authority to get a prosecutor fired who was allegedly investigating a Ukrainian gas company employing his son. Perhaps Romney doesn’t want to talk about Biden’s abhorrent behavior because of his inner circle’s ties to the same scandal. The American Thinker discovered the connections between a top adviser to Mitt Romney’s failed 2012 Presidential campaign and Burisma, the aforementioned Ukrainian firm that once paid Hunter Biden $50k a month for no apparent reason other than cronyism: Mitt Romney’s national security advisor in ...