Critical vulnerability found in Intel processors: It opens access to passwords and confidential data

Daniel Mogimi, an engineer at Google, has identified a critical vulnerability in Intel processors that allows attackers to access sensitive user data.

According to Wired.com, Mogimi developed an attack method called Downfall, and with its help he was able to penetrate into protected areas of the system memory and gain access to passwords, personal messages, encryption keys, and other sensitive data.

The vulnerability, according to Mogimi, covers millions of computers worldwide. It exists in the Skylake, Tiger Lake, and Ice Lake processors released by Intel from 2015 to 2020. At the same time, in the latest chips, such as Alder Lake, Raptor Lake and Sapphire Rapids, this vulnerability was not found.

Intel has already released an update that should fix the Downfall vulnerability.

Recall that this is not the first case of detection of dangerous vulnerabilities in Intel processors. Specter and Meltdown were reported in 2018, due to which hackers could gain access to sensitive information.

Recently in the implementation of the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, cybersecurity specialists from Quarkslab found two vulnerabilities that could pose a potential threat to billions of computers.

A critical vulnerability has also been discovered in the macOS operating system that allows arbitrary code to run on Apple computers.