“Does anyone know exactly the the ‘flaw’ was, or at least how such a flaw in the chip allows vulnerability? “
Basically, the Kernel was compromised, allowing, under a specific set of circumstances (normally used to increase chip performance), access to CPU memory areas that would normally be forbidden and impervious.
It smells fishy. The people who design processors, and the people who write the microcode that drives them are not careless folks. A flaw such as this would have been discovered by any reasonably curious chip designer designing the next chip generation using the previous generation as a starting point.
It’s possible, perhaps even likely, that this flaw was deliberately propagated by design over the past 20 years or so.
There is even precedent for this sort of thing.
I do not believe
You’re probably right. It sounds intentional. The world has changed dramatically. Now there are so many levels at which those with the intent can insert themselves in our lives - and it appears to be getting worse.