USN-4628-2: Intel Microcode regression

12 November 2020

USN-4628-1 introduced a regression in the Intel Microcode for some processors.

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Releases

Packages

Details

USN-4628-1 provided updated Intel Processor Microcode. Unfortunately,
that update prevented certain processors in the Intel Tiger Lake family
from booting successfully. This update reverts the microcode update for
the Tiger Lake processor family.

Please note that the 'dis_ucode_ldr' kernel command line option can be
added in the boot menu to disable microcode loading for system recovery.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Original advisory details:

Moritz Lipp, Michael Schwarz, Andreas Kogler, David Oswald, Catherine
Easdon, Claudio Canella, and Daniel Gruss discovered that the Intel Running
Average Power Limit (RAPL) feature of some Intel processors allowed a side-
channel attack based on power consumption measurements. A local attacker
could possibly use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2020-8695)

Ezra Caltum, Joseph Nuzman, Nir Shildan and Ofir Joseff discovered that
some Intel(R) Processors did not properly remove sensitive information
before storage or transfer in some situations. A local attacker could
possibly use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2020-8696)

Ezra Caltum, Joseph Nuzman, Nir Shildan and Ofir Joseff discovered that
some Intel(R) Processors did not properly isolate shared resources in some
situations. A local attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive
information. (CVE-2020-8698)

Reduce your security exposure

Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

Update instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 20.10
Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu 18.04
Ubuntu 16.04
Ubuntu 14.04

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make
all the necessary changes.