The whole of 2019 was marked by the fight against various hardware vulnerabilities in processors, primarily related to the speculative execution of commands. Recently a new type of attack on the Intel CPU cache - CacheOut (CVE-2020-0549). Processor manufacturers, especially Intel, try to release patches as soon as possible. Microsoft recently introduced another series of such updates.
All versions of Windows 10, including 1909 (November 2019 Update) and 1903 (May 2019 Update) and even the original 2015 build, have been patched with microcode updates to address Intel processor hardware vulnerabilities. Interestingly, Windows 10 2004's next major feature update preview, also called 20H1, hasn't received an update yet.
The microcode updates address the CVE-2019-11091, CVE-2018-12126, CVE-2018-12127 and CVE-2018-12130 vulnerabilities and also bring optimizations and better support for the following CPU families:
- Denverton;
- Sandy Bridge;
- Sandy Bridge E, EP;
- valley view;
- Whiskey Lake U.
It is important to note that these patches are only available from the Microsoft Update Catalog and are not distributed to Windows 10 devices through Windows Update. Those interested can download them from the links:
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A complete list of supported processors and a detailed description of the patches is available at . Microsoft and Intel recommend that users install firmware updates as soon as possible. A system reboot is required to complete the installation.
Also on February 11, the next monthly security update package for all versions of Windows 10 is expected to be released. In addition to fixing software vulnerabilities and errors, they will most likely include the above microcode updates for the Intel CPU.
Source: 3dnews.ru