Exposed: The missing Meltdown/Spectre microcode updates - is Intel lying to the public?
In short: This document reveals that Intel apparently refuses to release almost half of their Meltdown/Spectre microcode updates (MCU) to the public. In the "Microcode Revision Guidance" (MRG) are 93 processor families listed. For 16 of these the MCU development has been stopped for various reasons, thus 77 families remain, which we examine. On April 25 Intel made a new microcode download (MD) available to the public. Of these 77 families, the MD only supplies 42 (55%) with new microcode files. 35 families (45%) do not get updates. Of these, 25 families the MD lacks any MCU, and for 10 it supplies obsolete MCUs with new file timestamps. The text analyzes the situation and examines possible reasons why almost half (45%) of these crucial microcode updates have not been made available to the public, even months after they were declared production quality . Several appendices containing detailed tables and listings substantiate the text. (Published by Stefan Blachmann,...