Microsoft releases update to disable Intel's Spectre mitigations

[mouser]

Microsoft releases update to disable Intel's Spectre mitigations

Intel recommended that customers stop deploying the current microcode version on affected processors while they perform additional testing on the updated solution

• http://www.osnews.com/story/30179/Microsoft_releases_update_to_disable_Intel_s_Spectre_mitigations
• https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/01/new-windows-patch-disables-intels-bad-spectre-microcode-fix/

[Deozaan]

I'm not sure I understand what this is saying.

Intel released a "fix" that causes system instability and data loss? So Microsoft released an update to disable Intel's "fix"?

[mouser]

From the arstechnica article:

Intel released a microcode update that offers operating systems additional controls over the processor's ability to predict branches...
Microsoft's initial Windows patches would detect the presence of the updated microcode and use the additional controls if they were available. The new Windows update modifies the operating system so that it won't use the microcode's new features, even if they're detected. Microsoft has also documented registry keys that can be used to selectively enable or disable the protections, for sensitive systems or test environments. By avoiding the new microcode features, Microsoft has found that the system instability is also avoided.

[Arizona Hot]

I downloaded and ran it(I think). Is there any way to know if it got installed?

[IainB]

Well, this is an increasingly amazing situation.
I have to admit that I may have been much mistaken about this. I had thought Meltdown/Spectre was likely to be a Y2K-type scam, as it seemed to have all the trademarks of one, but then it now seems to have been turned into some kind of a slow-motion trainwreck or farce/fiasco. A sort of comedy of errors.
To protect system stability, I blocked updates to Windows 10 over two weeks ago anyway. Hopefully, it will eventually all calm down to something more sane before too long.

[panzer]

"... The publication, claiming sources, reported that Intel informed some of their customers about the vulnerabilities before the US government including Microsoft, Amazon, and Chinese companies Alibaba and Lenovo ... Although there is no evidence, assumptions are being made that the Chinese government which regularly monitors almost everything in their internet space could have harvested this information and used it to exploit loopholes before the patches were released ...":
https://fossbytes.com/intel-disclosed-meltdown-bugs-to-chinese-companies-before-the-us-government/