Microsoft has released an emergency patch today, which will protect users from recently discovered exploits that can grant unauthorized access. What's special about the new exploits is that it affects the processor itself (most notably Intel chipsets) and not just high-level software.
Microsoft already rolled out the critical patches and updates for Windows 10 users. Those who use Windows 7 and 8 may have to wait a while, since the updates for them will be rolled out next Tuesday, via regular Windows updates.
However, it is not enough that Windows roll out patches for their software and operating system. Processor manufacturers like Intel and AMD should also roll out fixes for their firmware to complement the updates released by Microsoft.
One downside of the software and firmware updates is that they may make some systems run slower. The Verge notes that the slowdown may not happen on Intel processors based on the Skylake architecture or newer. However, older processors might experience performance degaradation after the updates.
Intel says that the slowdowns will be "workload-dependent."
In any case, the patches and fixes attempt to fix two major exploits that were just recently discovered. Called Meltdown and Spectre, these two methods attack kernel-level memory to grant unauthorized access to different parts of a computer.
Kernel access is one of the most important parts of memory as it lets applications communicate with processors and different parts of the machine. Having kernel access could make malicious attackers take control of the computer and its contents.
Meltdown is said to be the easier method exploit of the two, although it only affects Intel processors. There are already fixes for Meltdown for various system standards like Linux, AMD, Intel, and ARM.
Spectre is more difficult to exploit, but it affects a wider variety of processors. It is also harder to fix than a Meltdown exploit.
