Downfall Attacks on Intel CPUs Steal Encryption Keys, Data

Ionut Ilascu, *Bleeping Computer*, 8 Aug 2023

Google's Daniel Moghimi exploited the so-called "Downfall" bug in Intel
central processing units to steal passwords, encryption keys, and private
data from computers shared by multiple users. The transient execution
side-channel vulnerability affects multiple Intel microprocessor lines,
allowing hackers to exfiltrate Software Guard eXtensions-encrypted
information. Moghimi said Downfall attacks leverage the <i>gather</i>
instruction that "leaks the content of the internal vector register file
during speculative execution." He developed the Gather Data Sampling exploit …

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