Meltdown and Spectre were plastered all over the internet earlier this year. The fact that efficiency techniques native to every computer and smartphone in the world had an inherent flaw that made them vulnerable to hacking was disconcerting to say the least. Now another flaw has emerged that impacts ARM, Intel and AMD processors.
The flaw, named Speculative Store Bypass (SSB) Variant 4, was disclosed by Google’s Project Zero and Microsoft. The bug could be exploited to access data that is meant to be stored out of reach. This includes JavaScript modules that store ads, basically software that is meant to be isolated. This isn’t as big a flaw to worry about as Meltdown and Spectre according to the tech giants. Most web browsers already have in built protections against Speculative Store Bypassing and there is no evidence that the bug is currently being exploited.
The SSB protections come with a catch though, they slow down computers and smartphones by 2 to 8%. That’s marginal but the speed obsessed culture of the modern world will notice either way.
Fixes to these inherent problems can not be brought by software, this is a hardware problem. Since most chips in the world have these flaws it will be a long time before all devices that are subject to these flaws will be out of commission.
