Intel Confirms Vulnerability In Intel AMT/ME

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Confirms Vulnerability In Intel AMT/ME

Many of you already have expressed your displeasure over Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT) and Management Engine (ME) for vaious reasons in the past and now it's been disclosed that for years there has been a vulnerability in this business-oriented feature that could open your Intel systems up to attackers...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=INTEL-SA-00075

[tildearrow]

Typo:

Many of you already have expressed your displeasure over Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT) and Management Engine (ME) for vaious reasons in the past

[davidbepo]

phew... at least it doesn't affect consumer pc's, anyway having this closed crap at ring -3 is a HUGE security concern

[artivision]

Is there any possibility at least for AMD to sell anything without the equivalent PSP?

[microcode]

Closed source custom Java ME and ThreadX blob probably maintained by interns, running all the time with unfettered access to every resource in the system even when the machine is turned off, integrated into almost every enterprise computer network in the world.

What could possibly go wrong.

[oiaohm]

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/b/techcenter/archive/2010/10/19/how-to-easily-evaluate-intel-vpro-technology-features-on-dell-optiplex-systems

Sorry to say Intel claim that the AMT fault does not effect Intel-based consumer PCs need to be taken with a serous grain of salt. Not all OEM have used the non AMT firmware for consumer PCs. Like different the dell optiplex systems have effected firmware. Next checking can be a major pain in but. MEBX can be password protected by the OEM so before you can find out what version you have you have to perform the password reset on that.

Last but not least you are dependant on OEM releasing fixed firmware. So now some people are going to have insecure motherboards. Maybe Intel need to rethink this complete AMT feature particularly in does it really need OEM to ship update is it possible for Intel to alter the design that they can ship the update directly so future defects can be fixed faster..

[Staffan]

Oh how surprising. A backdoor coming to bite you in the backside. Did we learn anything here, Intel? No, of course not. Expect more backdoors.

[ThrowAway3000]

Is there any possibility at least for AMD to sell anything without the equivalent PSP?

There is, I've just built a Bulldozer-based PC, and I bought a spare motherboard in case this one breaks 5 years later. Sucks to get a CPU from 2012 in 2017, but that was the only option to avoid PSP. Basically, stockpiling old hardware (just a motherboard, really) as per someone's advice on Phoronix.

Oh well, at least the performance is 4 times better than my current dual-core Intel E7200 from 2008, and the CPU itself was only $110.

[bug77]

Yeah, but that's a business (i.e. enterprise-grade) vulnerability, delivered to customers at no additional cost. So it's all good

[starshipeleven]

It will come a time when we need to attach a mini-firewall to the PC's ethernet port to filter out any unwanted bullshit trying to communicate with the hardware backdoor....