Possible Problems Found in CPU Firmware

[TWPonKubuntu]

Interesting read in this article. Keep your eyes on this and see if it becomes a problem in the near future.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/minix-i...tag=RSSbaffb68

I quote from the article:

Maybe you're not paranoid. Maybe they are out to get you. Ronald Minnich, a Google software engineer, who discovered a hidden MINIX operating system inside "kind of a billion machines" using Intel processors, might agree with this.

There is more detail in the article. plus links to supporting documents and other articles.

The author points to where the problems may lie and which CPUs may be vulnerable.

At this point there are no KNOWN exploits, but that doesn't mean there are none. Now that this has become visible, public knowledge, I would expect that attempts will be made to use this security weakness to design exploits...

[jlittle]

We've had the Intel Management Engine scare already. Is this the same thing? At that time, there was a tool that checked your system for IME vulnerability and I used it and it found nothing. Sorry, I've forgotten any details.

Regards, John Little

[vinnywright]

old news,,,,,,,,,, look @hear https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...ent+Technology

read the hole thread .

VINNY

[jlittle]

read the hole thread .

Thank you, Vinny. (I need to start writing things down, or something...)

I'm not convinced that port scans are effective. If "they" wanted to hide a port, there's ways, such as complicated port knocks, to open it just when needed.

Wizard1000 feels safe in a "private" network behind a router, but along comes Krack. Anyway, the router doesn't stop the hidden code calling out.

Regards, John Little

[TWPonKubuntu]

Vinny,

Thanks for the links. nmap is not available to me with this distribution install (Linux Mint xfce), so I haven't tested my system.

"old news" doesn't necessarily mean insignificant. I'm watching this because it does allow low level access to a system.

[vinnywright]

Thank you, Vinny. (I need to start writing things down, or something...)

I'm not convinced that port scans are effective. If "they" wanted to hide a port, there's ways, such as complicated port knocks, to open it just when needed.

Wizard1000 feels safe in a "private" network behind a router, but along comes Krack. Anyway, the router doesn't stop the hidden code calling out.

Regards, John Little

their is allso the https://github.com/intel/INTEL-SA-00...tigation-Tools it's a linux tool to see if it is turned on in your CPU ,,,,the "backdore" has to be enabeld in the CPU AKA was turned on by your PC vendor,,,,,or you in the BIOS

Vinny,

Thanks for the links. nmap is not available to me with this distribution install (Linux Mint xfce), so I haven't tested my system.

"old news" doesn't necessarily mean insignificant. I'm watching this because it does allow low level access to a system.

you 2 did not read the hole thread did ya ,,,or follow the links.

you can install nmap ,,,mint is an Ubuntu derivative and uses the Ubuntu repos...dose it not?

VINNY

[TWPonKubuntu]

Vinny, Please accept my apology, I did not do exactly as you advised and missed the significance of what was in the links. I'll try to do better in the future... but please don't expect perfection, I can't handle the stress.

[vinnywright]

Vinny, Please accept my apology, I did not do exactly as you advised and missed the significance of what was in the links. I'll try to do better in the future... but please don't expect perfection, I can't handle the stress.

No please ,,,,I apologize ,, I did not mean to cause you any stress ,,,,just make sure you caught all the information !

VINNY

[TWPonKubuntu]

Vinny:

[TWPonKubuntu]

A continuation of this saga:

Title: System76 Will Begin Disabling Intel ME In Their Linux Laptops

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...able-ME-Laptop

This is a good thing.

[GreyGeek]

Indeed!
I looked into doing the me_clean or coreboot but both required putting my Acer at risk of bricking.
Having the mfgr do it is the best possible way, and I trust System76.

My son's System76 (bono something) is running strong after four years. Still fast as lightening with a beautiful screen running KDE Neon on Btrfs.