Intel has released patches for a high-severity vulnerability known as Reptar, identified as CVE-2023-23583, with a CVSS score of 8.8. This vulnerability, if exploited, could lead to privilege escalation, information disclosure, and denial of service (DoS) conditions. Despite no evidence of exploitation, the release of the Intel Reptar flaw patch is a proactive measure to mitigate potential risks.
The Reptar vulnerability in CPUs can be exploited by threat actors if they have local code execution on the operating system or a guest virtual machine (VM). Without CPU vulnerability mitigation, this flaw could allow for privilege escalation or the disclosure of confidential information. In a multi-tenant virtualized environment, the vulnerability could be exploited to crash the host server, resulting in a DoS condition for all users on the server. Organizations are advised to check for BIOS/UEFI updates with their system manufacturers as part of their CPU firmware fixes.
The name “Reptar” for CVE-2023-23583 originates from the “rep” instruction prefix that should be ignored but isn’t. Security researcher Tavis Ormandy from Google revealed that this high-severity Intel flaw is due to the unusual interpretation of instruction prefixes in CPUs with fast short repeat move (FSRM) capabilities.
Intel’s guidance, issued on November 14th, 2023, states that redundant REX prefixes, which are not expected in non-malicious real-world software, are the root cause of this issue. Intel’s internal security validation protocols identified the potential for privilege escalation. The patch includes updated microcode for all affected processors, including Xeon D, 3rd and 4th generation Xeon Scalable server CPUs, and mobile or desktop versions of 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th generation Intel Core processors.
The Intel Reptar flaw patch is a crucial step in proactive cybersecurity, especially considering the recent discovery of another Intel CPU vulnerability, “Downfall,” which posed risks of information and password theft. Organizations are encouraged to adopt proactive cybersecurity measures to safeguard their systems and data.
Source: Securityboulevard
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