The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#1

Post by KirinDave » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches
pythonsweetness.tumblr.com

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#2

Post by tbrownaw » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 4:58 PM UTC

"Hey, I think I noticed a horrible horrible embargoed security bug. I know, I should do my best to pole holes in the embargo early!"

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#3

Post by aceofspad3s » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

tbrownaw wrote: post #2

"Hey, I think I noticed a horrible horrible embargoed security bug. I know, I should do my best to pole holes in the embargo early!"

Maybe they shouldn't have started merging the patches in the open if they weren't ready to disclose the bug.

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#4

Post by joncrane » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:02 PM UTC

If true, this is pretty huge. As if the AWS "You blew through your budget" emails right around midnight of New Years were only an appetizer.

Edit: AWS Spurious Budget Email Barrage: https://www.reddit.com/r/aws/comments/7ndvli/anybody_get_spu...

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#5

Post by jbfoo » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:02 PM UTC

Shouldn't cloud-grade computers be immune to rowhammer (or at least rowhammer should be much less efficient) as they typically use ECC RAM. Switching ECC RAM in a way that also modifies checksum in a deterministic way is (was?) not practical?

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#6

Post by ProAm » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:04 PM UTC

joncrane wrote: post #4

If true, this is pretty huge. As if the AWS "You blew through your budget" emails right around midnight of New Years were only an appetizer. Edit: AWS Spurious Budget Email Barrage: https://www.reddit.com/r/aws/comments/7ndvli/anybody_get_spu...

I missed what happened with AWS? Any details

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#7

Post by revelation » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

No ones hiding anything, this patchset was developed in the open for many many months. The hysteria and intrigue in this random tumblr blog is completely superfluous. It's a hardware bug anyway.

Here is a good hint to when something is not being embargoed: there is a paper and a public demonstration.

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#8

Post by michaelmwangi » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

joncrane wrote: post #4

If true, this is pretty huge. As if the AWS "You blew through your budget" emails right around midnight of New Years were only an appetizer. Edit: AWS Spurious Budget Email Barrage: https://www.reddit.com/r/aws/comments/7ndvli/anybody_get_spu...

Haha got the emails too

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#9

Post by justincormack » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:08 PM UTC

tbrownaw wrote: post #2

"Hey, I think I noticed a horrible horrible embargoed security bug. I know, I should do my best to pole holes in the embargo early!"

It has been obvious something is up for weeks now, and the disclosure is apparently going to be very soon, so it is a bit late to worry.

Re: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches

#10

Post by syshum » Mon, Jan 01, 2018, 5:08 PM UTC

tbrownaw wrote: post #2

"Hey, I think I noticed a horrible horrible embargoed security bug. I know, I should do my best to pole holes in the embargo early!"

Ahh yes, Security through Obscurity that is always the best

If no one talks about a security problem that makes it disappear