4 ms·

AMT seems to depend on vPro, which is not present on most "desktop" cpus. There is a more technical security advisory here : https://security-center.intel.com/a

AMT seems to depend on vPro, which is not present on most "desktop" cpus. There is a more technical security advisory here : https://security-center.intel.com/advisory.aspx?intelid=INTEL-SA-00075&languageid=en-fr https://security-center.intel.com/advisory.aspx?intelid=INTE...

deathanatos 9y ago
Are you sure? Both my ThinkPad (personal) and my MBP (work) appear to be affected; they report CPU models that, when I look that model up in Ark, Intel says has the vPro technology.
- erik 9y ago
  It seems that for network management vPro needs a compatible CPU, motherboard chipset, and a Intel ethernet controller. So in theory Macs are safe from remote exploitation? What will really be interesting to see is if this is exploitable via PCIe for local privilege escalation on consumer processors with vPro.
  - DKnoll 9y ago
    This is a path to DMA, but you can already get DMA from PCIe.
  - Clownshoesms 9y ago
    > It seems that for network management vPro needs a compatible CPU, motherboard chipset, and a Intel ethernet controller. So in theory Macs are safe from remote exploitation? If that's the case, that sounds to me like there is special code in the Intel NIC firmware to allow/forward/do things with these packets?
    - kuschku 9y ago
      Definitely, and this is not a conspiracy. The ME is used for the WoL and EEE features of the Intel NICs. (EEE is Intel's energy efficient ethernet, allowing it to keep TCP sockets open even if the main processor is asleep). Additionally, the ME builds its own network connections. It's also why I stopped using any and all Intel NICs, they ended up resetting every few seconds if the ME was partially disabled.
      - Clownshoesms 9y ago
        I think we need to remove the word 'conspiracy' from the English language, it's been abused too well by propaganda. I thought I might be safe with an APU-2 device as a firewall (AMD chip, don't know if they have the same arrangement with the five-eyes), but Intel NICs. Guess the motto is, use paper and lead pencils for anything really important. And turn wifi off.
        Clownshoesms 9y ago
        These scumbags are actively ruining computing. Cars, bridges, infrastructure... can't these warhawks pick on something else? Then you get the NSA, the ASD, the rest of the clowns coming in and ruining it, and what is the point? Are we all just fighting each other in an ape war? I thought we were better.
olyjohn 9y ago
AMT is a part of the vPro management suite. All 3500 of our desktops had AMT at the school I worked at. They did not, however, have vPro. Having it was as simple as paying extra per machine. I would guess that it's in all of their CPUs, just disabled at different levels depending on the OEM and the system you order. Typically, you will not find this enabled on consumer desktops / laptops, but a lot of the business ones at least come with AMT, even if vPro does not.
brudgers 9y ago
The list of Intel CPU's with vPro: https://ark.intel.com/Search/FeatureFilter?productType=processors&VProTechnology=true https://ark.intel.com/Search/FeatureFilter?productType=proce...

deathanatos 9y ago

Are you sure? Both my ThinkPad (personal) and my MBP (work) appear to be affected; they report CPU models that, when I look that model up in Ark, Intel says has the vPro technology.

erik 9y ago
It seems that for network management vPro needs a compatible CPU, motherboard chipset, and a Intel ethernet controller. So in theory Macs are safe from remote exploitation? What will really be interesting to see is if this is exploitable via PCIe for local privilege escalation on consumer processors with vPro.
- DKnoll 9y ago
  This is a path to DMA, but you can already get DMA from PCIe.
- Clownshoesms 9y ago
  > It seems that for network management vPro needs a compatible CPU, motherboard chipset, and a Intel ethernet controller. So in theory Macs are safe from remote exploitation? If that's the case, that sounds to me like there is special code in the Intel NIC firmware to allow/forward/do things with these packets?
  - kuschku 9y ago
    Definitely, and this is not a conspiracy. The ME is used for the WoL and EEE features of the Intel NICs. (EEE is Intel's energy efficient ethernet, allowing it to keep TCP sockets open even if the main processor is asleep). Additionally, the ME builds its own network connections. It's also why I stopped using any and all Intel NICs, they ended up resetting every few seconds if the ME was partially disabled.
    - Clownshoesms 9y ago
      I think we need to remove the word 'conspiracy' from the English language, it's been abused too well by propaganda. I thought I might be safe with an APU-2 device as a firewall (AMD chip, don't know if they have the same arrangement with the five-eyes), but Intel NICs. Guess the motto is, use paper and lead pencils for anything really important. And turn wifi off.
      - Clownshoesms 9y ago
        These scumbags are actively ruining computing. Cars, bridges, infrastructure... can't these warhawks pick on something else? Then you get the NSA, the ASD, the rest of the clowns coming in and ruining it, and what is the point? Are we all just fighting each other in an ape war? I thought we were better.

olyjohn 9y ago

AMT is a part of the vPro management suite. All 3500 of our desktops had AMT at the school I worked at. They did not, however, have vPro. Having it was as simple as paying extra per machine. I would guess that it's in all of their CPUs, just disabled at different levels depending on the OEM and the system you order. Typically, you will not find this enabled on consumer desktops / laptops, but a lot of the business ones at least come with AMT, even if vPro does not.

brudgers 9y ago

The list of Intel CPU's with vPro: https://ark.intel.com/Search/FeatureFilter?productType=processors&VProTechnology=true https://ark.intel.com/Search/FeatureFilter?productType=proce...