Researchers discover unfixable security flaw in Intel chips

Security researchers have uncovered a vulnerability in Intel chips which could potentially allow compromise at the hardware level.

Researchers at Positive Technologies revealed that the vulnerability in the ROM of the Intel Converged Security and Management Engine (CSME) is impossible to fix as it is hard-coded in the Mask ROM of microprocessors and chipsets.

As Engadget notes, the CSME is the first thing that runs when you boot up your computer. Before it protects its own memory, there's a brief moment when it is vulnerable and this is when hackers could launch a DMA transfer to that RAM, hijacking code execution.

The flaw applies to machines with Intel chips built over the last five years or so. Intel was notified of the vulnerabilities and released mitigations in May 2019 to be added into firmware updates for motherboards and computer systems.