vulnerability in modern microprocessors which permits unauthorized memory reads
Factsheet
CVE identifier CVE-2017-5754
Date discovered January 2018; 8 years ago (2018-01)
Affected hardware Intel x86 microprocessors, IBM Power microprocessors, and some ARM-based microprocessors
CVE identifier CVE-2017-5754
Date discovered January 2018; 8 years ago (2018-01)
Affected hardware Intel x86 microprocessors, IBM Power microprocessors, and some ARM-based microprocessors
Meltdown Attack
meltdownattack.com
Meltdown and Spectre
Meltdown and Spectre exploit critical vulnerabilities in modern processors. These hardware vulnerabilities allow programs to steal data which is currently processed on the computer.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Spectre_(security_vulnerability)
Spectre (security vulnerability) - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - Spectre is a class of speculative execution CPU vulnerabilities that involve side-channel attacks, first discovered in 2017. There are multiple variants that affect modern microprocessors capable of performing branch prediction and other forms of speculative execution.
Genius explanation of Meltdown/Spectre malware
From a hackernews thread:
Let's say you want to know if your boss is away on vacation next week so you call their admin and say "you need to double-check my contact info if the boss is going to be out next week". They load up the boss' calendar to check and based on his presence next week then load up your info. Only once done, do they take the time to remember the boss didn't want you to know whether they are in or out.
So you hear back, "sorry, can't tell you that, but you follow up with "OK, well can you still double check that my phone number is..."
More on reddit.comIf they respond quickly with a yes, then your file is still on their screen and the boss is in fact out next week. If there is a short pause while they look it up, then the opposite.
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January 7, 2018What to do if your ESXi host is affected by the meltdown or spectre virus. - Virtualization - Spiceworks Community
Hello all! So has anyone’s ESXi environment been affected by virus yet? If so what did you do to remediate? Just want to know what other folks are doing Thanks More on community.spiceworks.com
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January 14, 2018Meltdown and Spectre: An ELI5
Wow. Such a good read and very carefully explained. I am amazed of how deep security experts go inside things to exploit them. More on reddit.com
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January 7, 2018Meltdown and Spectre
So Google apparently got pissed at Intel's statement that these issues are not a big deal and just broke the embargo releasing info on these exploits. TL;DR Meltdown: affects every Intel CPU since 1995 (save for certain Itaniums and first Atoms). Possible to fix with software patches but with a performance penalty. Spectre: according to official info - this is virtually impossible to fix in full: As a result, any software or microcode countermeasure attempts should be viewed as stop-gap measures pending further research. Only partial solutions are available right now as it relies on the very design of the CPUs. This one seems to be harder to use than Meltdown however since it has so many different variables. AMD is not safe from this one either, as said in official paper: AMD states that its Ryzen processors have “an artificial intelligence neural network that learns to predict what future pathway an application will take based on past runs” [3, 5], implying even more complex speculative behavior. As a result, while the stop-gap countermeasures described in the previous section may help limit practical exploits in the short term, there is currently no way to know whether a particular code construction is, or is not, safe across today’s processors – much less future designs. So uh... fun times ahead of us? More on reddit.com
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January 3, 2018Videos
10:10
Spectre Explained - The Attack that took the world by surprise ...
17:13
Spectre & Meltdown: What You Need to Know - YouTube
03:07
Meltdown and Spectre in 3 Minutes - YouTube
11:15
Facts About Meltdown and Spectre Viruses - YouTube
06:40
Meltdown & Spectre vulnerabilities - Simply Explained - YouTube
07:43
Why are Spectre and Meltdown So Dangerous? - YouTube
Cloudflare
cloudflare.com › learning › security › threats › meltdown-spectre
What is Meltdown/Spectre?
Meltdown and Spectre are new processor vulnerabilites that affect most PCs and smartphones.
Miami
security.it.miami.edu › stay-safe › sec-articles › meltdown-and-spectre › index.html
Critical Security Vulnerabilities - Meltdown and Spectre - Affect Computers, Mobile Devices, and Servers | Information Security Office
Spectre is a vulnerability affecting processors in smartphones, tablets, and computer chips from Intel and Advance Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). It allows for leakage of information from applications. Similar to Meltdown, Spectre affects Intel processors, but also affects AMD and ARM processors.
Spectreattack
spectreattack.com › spectre.pdf pdf
Spectre Attacks: Exploiting Speculative Execution
chitectural attacks which we call Spectre attacks.
Medium
medium.com › @mattklein123 › meltdown-spectre-explained-6bc8634cc0c2
Meltdown and Spectre, explained
January 15, 2018 - Spectre shares some properties of Meltdown and is composed of two variants. Unlike Meltdown, Spectre is substantially harder to exploit, but affects almost all modern processors produced in the last twenty years.
Cybereason
cybereason.com › blog › what-are-the-spectre-and-meltdown-vulnerabilities
What are the Spectre and Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities
The Meltdown and Spectre hardware bugs impact almost every CPU built in the past 10 years (and possibly longer) and allow a low-permission application, potentially even JavaScript code, to read kernel memory.
CISA
cisa.gov › news-events › alerts › 2018 › 01 › 04 › meltdown-and-spectre-side-channel-vulnerability-guidance
Meltdown and Spectre Side-Channel Vulnerability Guidance | CISA
May 1, 2018 - CPU hardware implementations are ... by the hardware, affecting desktops, laptops, and cloud computers. Spectre is a flaw an attacker can exploit to force a program to reveal its data....
Malwarebytes
malwarebytes.com › home › spectre attacks come back from the dead
Spectre attacks come back from the dead
May 4, 2021 - Speculative execution happens when a computer processor does some work it might need later, instead of waiting until it knows it definitely needs it. What emerged in 2018 is that speculative execution opens the possibility of side-channel attacks. Spectre-based attacks trick a program into accessing arbitrary locations in a program’s memory space.
Avast
avast.com › c-meltdown-spectre
Meltdown & Spectre: More Than an Intel Security Flaw
September 16, 2025 - Malware Viruses Ransomware Phishing Scams Hacking Other Threats Passwords Business Security Tips See all Security articles ... Browser IP Address VPN Streaming Identity Protection Dark Web Digital Life Privacy Tips See all Privacy articles ... Originally discovered in June 2017 and still plaguing us today, Meltdown and Spectre are two of the world’s most widespread hardware vulnerabilities.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/sysadmin › genius explanation of meltdown/spectre malware
r/sysadmin on Reddit: Genius explanation of Meltdown/Spectre malware
January 7, 2018 -
bert.hubert@powerdns.com creates a simple explanation of how Meltdown and Spectre gain access to data thru CPU functions. https://ds9a.nl/articles/posts/spectre-meltdown/
Top answer 1 of 5
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From a hackernews thread:
Let's say you want to know if your boss is away on vacation next week so you call their admin and say "you need to double-check my contact info if the boss is going to be out next week". They load up the boss' calendar to check and based on his presence next week then load up your info. Only once done, do they take the time to remember the boss didn't want you to know whether they are in or out.
So you hear back, "sorry, can't tell you that, but you follow up with "OK, well can you still double check that my phone number is..."
If they respond quickly with a yes, then your file is still on their screen and the boss is in fact out next week. If there is a short pause while they look it up, then the opposite.
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295
This is the most approachable but detailed explanation I've read thus far. Nothing else had a super simple explanation of the branch history vulnerability that took up many pages in Google's analysis.
Virus Bulletin
virusbulletin.com › virusbulletin › 2018 › 07 › does-malware-based-spectre-exist
Virus Bulletin :: Does malware based on Spectre exist?
The Spectre attack [1] has received massive coverage since the beginning of 2018, and by now, it is likely that everyone in computer science has at least heard about it. Spectre exploits the fact that speculative execution resulting from a branch misprediction may reveal private data to an attacker.
BleepingComputer
bleepingcomputer.com › home › news › security › new spectre v2 attack impacts linux systems on intel cpus
New Spectre v2 attack impacts Linux systems on Intel CPUs
April 10, 2024 - Researchers have demonstrated the "first native Spectre v2 exploit" for a new speculative execution side-channel flaw that impacts Linux systems running on many modern Intel processors.
Eleven Forum
elevenforum.com › windows support forums › antivirus, firewalls and system security
Spectre and Meltdown Vulnerabilities | Windows 11 Forum
March 23, 2023 - It uses a processor’s speculative execution and branch prediction in conjunction with cache attacks to trick apps into revealing information that should be hidden within the protected memory area. Spectre attacks need to be customized on a machine-by-machine basis, meaning they are harder to execute.
Quora
quora.com › Whatever-happened-to-Meltdown-and-Spectre-Are-they-still-a-threat
Whatever happened to Meltdown and Spectre? Are they still a threat? - Quora
Answer (1 of 3): As far as I can tell, they are at some level. However, they have always been more a threat for a cloud user than a normal user. Why? Because both of them require executing code on the machine to be a threat. If a hacker is able to execute code on your personal computer, they have...
Jumpstarttech
jumpstarttech.com › jumpstart technology | it support & services company | mountain view, san francisco, ca › blog › the spectre virus makes a comeback
The Spectre Virus Makes a Comeback | Jump Start Technology
August 17, 2018 - Spectre 101 For those who don’t know, Spectre is a vulnerability in modern computer chips like Intel and AMD that allows hackers to steal confidential information stored in an application’s memory, including passwords, instant messages, and emails.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Meltdown_(security_vulnerability)
Meltdown (security vulnerability) - Wikipedia
March 20, 2026 - Nonetheless, according to Dell, ... and Spectre] have been reported to date [26 January 2018], though researchers have produced proof-of-concepts." Dell further recommended "promptly adopting software updates, avoiding unrecognized hyperlinks and websites, not downloading files or applications from unknown sources ... following secure password protocols ... [using] security software to help protect against malware (advanced threat prevention software or anti-virus)...
Tanium Success Community
community.tanium.com › s › question › 0D50e00004eUcVYCA0 › meltdownspectre-vulnerability-management-content-released
Meltdown/Spectre Vulnerability Management Content ...
Connect. Learn. Grow. Succeed. Explore articles, videos, community posts and use cases to help you succeed with Tanium. Connect with members of the Tanium team and other Tanium users to share content, ideas and product feedback.
Quora
quora.com › Was-Spectre-and-Meltdown-a-hoax-to-increase-Intel-profits-I-dont-want-it-on-my-computer
Was Spectre and Meltdown a hoax to increase Intel profits? I don't want it on my computer. - Quora
Answer (1 of 5): You’d have to be on the level of a “flat Earth” conspirationist to think that Intel/AMD engineered these hardware imperfections/insecurities for that purpose. Could that have resulted in inside trading for a quick cash grab? Remotely plausible, but also highly illegal.
Spiceworks
community.spiceworks.com › software & applications › virtualization
What to do if your ESXi host is affected by the meltdown or spectre virus. - Virtualization - Spiceworks Community
January 14, 2018 - Hello all! So has anyone’s ESXi environment been affected by virus yet? If so what did you do to remediate? Just want to know what other folks are doing Thanks