Intel is notching up an impressive collection of bugs and flaws of late, what with crashing 13th and 14th Gen CPUs, the latest Arrow Lake chips needing a fair bit of post-launch work to get them running (not all that) optimally, all that good stuff. Now the company has announced some exciting new bugs that afflict not just its CPUs, but also Arc GPUs.
Let's start with some familiar sounding bugs involving Core Ultra processors. "Description: Incorrect initialization of resource in the branch prediction unit for some Intel Core Ultra Processors may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure via local access," says the official security advisory.
In other words, the bad guys can gain access to your rig. Intel says it is, "releasing microcode updates to mitigate these potential vulnerabilities," which impact Core Ultra 5, 7, and 9 CPU models across both desktop and laptop.
The second CPU bug afflicting those same chips is described as, "a potential security ['flaw'? Even Intel's bug reports have bugs, it seems...] in the Intel Integrated Connectivity I/O interface (CNVi) for some Intel Core Ultra Processors may allow escalation of privilege."
Again, a microcode fix is in the oven. In both cases, Intel advises that PC owners should contact their system provider for an update to fix the problem, but it's not clear if the fix has already been released by Intel.
Next up, some novel GPU flaws, one of which excitingly has been given a "HIGH" severity by Intel. "Potential security vulnerabilities in some Intel Graphics Driver software may allow escalation of privilege, denial of service, or information disclosure," Intel says.
The bug actually applies to all Intel iGPUs from 7th Gen CPUs onwards and also includes the latest Arc GPUs, like the Arc B580. Happily, the solution is a driver update that's already available, links to which you can find here. The fix specifically for discrete Arc GPUs is here.
Finally, we have this advisory pertaining to Intel's Endurance Gaming Mode software. "A potential security vulnerability for some Endurance Gaming Mode software may allow escalation of privilege," Intel says.
Intel Endurance Gaming Mode is an app for laptops that monitors real-time frame rates. The idea is to keep power consumption in check by setting a target frame rate and then reducing GPU frequency and power to match, resulting in improved battery life.
The fix for this is both an update to Endurance Gaming Mode version 1.5.651.0, available here, and that latest GPU driver we mentioned before, available here.
All of which means if you have Intel laptop, say, with both the relevant CPU and GPU and you happen to use Endurance Gaming Mode, perhaps you'd better get patched up. And fast.
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