Right, so the mismatch here is whether or not the CPU is being pitched as wholly secure. If it is "mostly secure with insecure performance enhancements" or real

Right, so the mismatch here is whether or not the CPU is being pitched as wholly secure. If it is "mostly secure with insecure performance enhancements" or really "mostly secure with performance enhancements that have an unspecified level of security", then... It's "not a bug". It's a huge lapse in customer trust, for sure. But if you're just going to play that semantics game... I think the good point here is whether or not Intel engineers knew of patterns like this (they should have) and is it negligent or unethical to release products that have these vulnerabilities built in. Insecure (or "undefined") by intention or by coercion.