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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: 0.228s | source
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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 #
1. loginusername ◴[28 Oct 15 04:07 UTC] No.10462796[source]▶
"kill UEFI"

Sounds good to me. I see UEFI as an added, redundant, poor quality OS. I'm a connoisseur of bootloaders and live in a TTY so UEFI is another command line that I do not need. You said it best: its features are "rarely used"; it just provides unwanted third parties with another "layer to hide in".