Posted on 01/08/2018 4:26:46 PM PST by bitt
Users have complained that the updates released by Microsoft last week for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities cause Windows to break down on some computers with AMD processors.
Several individuals whose computers rely on AMD processors, particularly older Athlon models, say they are unable to start Windows 10 after installing KB4056892, an update released by Microsoft in response to the disclosure of serious flaws affecting Intel, AMD and ARM processors.
The security holes have been dubbed Spectre and Meltdown and they allow malicious applications to bypass memory isolation mechanisms and access passwords, photos, documents, emails, and other sensitive information. Both local and remote exploitation are possible.
Users have reported that after installing Microsoft’s update the operating system freezes during boot when the Windows logo is displayed. Some users claimed to have had problems reverting to a previous state, and those who did manage to do it warned that the automatic update feature needs to quickly be disabled to prevent the update from being reinstalled.
While a majority of the affected users appear to have older AMD Athlon processors, some devices with AMD Turion CPUs also appear to have been hit.
Microsoft has not shared any information regarding this issue. A Microsoft spokesperson told SecurityWeek that the company is aware of the reports and is investigating.
(Excerpt) Read more at securityweek.com ...
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Happened on one of my machines today - an older 64-bit Athlon X2. I was lucky to be able to recover, and have blocked this update for 30 days.
Very good reason to move to Linux
Afraid of that, did not install 'em, won't until they work.
I have Windows set to not install anything.
Well, if the OS don’t boot up, then it’s very secure from this Spectre and Meltdown, innit? Can’t be hacked no-how.
What’cha all complainin’ about?
I checked two Win10 64 Pro computers running on motherboards with AMD CPUs, and neither computer has downloaded update KB4056892. Both computers are current with their Windows updates.
Brilliant, render devices totally inoperable and one need not worry about hacking anymore!
Does this surprise anyone familiar with Microsoft Windows?
Only that this break is relatively limited. MS has done worse.
Another of my machines — this one — successfully installed the abusive patch a couple of days ago. This one is also an AMD Athlon X2, but it’s running 32-bit Windows 10 Pro, not 64-bit.
My Commodore 64 is still doing just fine.
AMD processor based systems shouldn’t download this anyways whether or not it works. The CPU is already safe based off it’s architectural difference. Now if they came out with a patch for Sceptre well it does need it, but not for Meltdown.
“My Commodore 64 is still doing just fine.”
We’ll when your 150 baud modem finally finishes the download patch next month, watch out !
My HP has an Athlon X 2 64 bit . How do I block updates ? A computer dummy in Japan ....
Can’t the updating process check for what kind of processor the computers has and update or not based on that?
Now that they know there's a problem, yes. I'm guessing they hadn't tested against older hardware before releasing the patch.
The Linux kernel patches could do the exact same thing, or some other malbehaviour. The root problems are in the processor, not the OS.
Well, if the computer won’t boot, that will certainly keep it safe from hackers.
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