ME is a separate processor, not a "ring" on the x86. All this talk about "privilege level above normal software" and "ring -7" just muddies the water. It simpl

ME is a separate processor, not a "ring" on the x86. All this talk about "privilege level above normal software" and "ring -7" just muddies the water. It simply is a physically separate core running its own software which has access to all RAM and all PCIe devices and can program the Intel NIC to silently redirect selected packets away from the x86 cores to itself.