←back to thread

Intel x86 considered harmful – survey of attacks against x86 over last 10 years

(blog.invisiblethings.org)
276 points chei0aiV | 1 comments | 27 Oct 15 14:51 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
pjc50 ◴[27 Oct 15 16:01 UTC] No.10458874[source]▶
"System management mode" is a tremendous wart and should be removed wholesale, with Intel adopting a more ARM-style trusted boot chain with explicit cooperation from the OS or hypervisor. And while you're at it, kill UEFI and install a pony for me.

(Seriously, SMM serves either bizarre ILO features that high-end vendors like but are rarely used, or security agencies looking for a layer to hide in.)

replies(5): >>10459094 #>>10459158 #>>10459893 #>>10460557 #>>10462796 #
lurkinggrue ◴[27 Oct 15 19:41 UTC] No.10460557[source]▶
I would prefer a pony over UEFI... possibly Rainbow Dash.
replies(1): >>10461989 #
1. semi-extrinsic ◴[27 Oct 15 23:42 UTC] No.10461989[source]▶
> UEFI stands for "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface", where "Firmware" is an ancient African word meaning "Why do something right when you can do it so wrong that children will weep and brave adults will cower before you", and "UEI" is Celtic for "We missed DOS so we burned it into your ROMs".

(From the excellent https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/5/25/228)