Spectre and Meltdown

[Juanjo]

Hello, if you want to know if you are infected:

git clone https://github.com/speed47/spectre-meltdown-checker.git
cd spectre-meltdown-checker/
sudo ./spectre-meltdown-checker.sh

[calinb]

I ran that checker a couple of days ago on my Atom N455 and it said my netbook computer was fully vulnerable to Meltdown and Sprectre (contrary to what I’d read about old Atom chips in several places online). I don’t think the script comprehends my old Atom, but I don’t have time to fully investigate the script. Since then I found Intel’s Impacted Intel Systems list and the N series Atom is, as I suspected, allegedly not impacted:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/facts-about-side-channel-analysis-and-intel-products.html#4

[calinb]

I’ve done a little research, because my Mac Mini PPC G4 (7447A CPU) is running Ubuntu Mate. There’s far less attention given to PPC than the Intel and AMD chips, which is both good and bad (good because attacks are less likely to be widespread but bad because there’s less reliable information about their vulnerability).

I feel pretty good about the G4/7447A but there is at least one claim of a memory security breech demonstration on a G5. Read this page along with the comments:

https://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/2018/01/more-about-spectre-and-powerpc-or-why.html

There’s also much less attention being focused in 32-bit Intel and AMD cpus. From what I’ve read in other GNU/Linux forums, patches for 32-bit will be much more difficult than 64-bit!

[calinb]

Here’s a link about 32-bit from a dev in the Debian forum:

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=135775&p=663740&hilit=thomas+kpti#p663740

[Nope]

For what it is worth: I upgraded UM 16.04 on my old T410 and for regular office work, surfing and streaming I do not experience any performance issues at all. But I would be interested in hearing if anyone has either with UM or other OSes!