Windows Client Guidance against speculative execution vulnerabilities

CountMike · 08 Jan 2018

Is there an example of it being exploited in malicious manner ?

pzhndal · 08 Jan 2018

you'll probably have to ask nsa and all.

CountMike · 08 Jan 2018

pzhndal said:

you'll probably have to ask nsa and all.

Well, beside NSA, no doubt about them.

Kbird · 08 Jan 2018

VBF said:

I checked the ASUS Global
link and I'm assuming that they won't provide updates for the "Asus Z87-A Motherboard - Haswell CPU only" which despite being 2013 "vintage" is my main PC and is still as powerful as i need, what with the 16GB memory and SSD.
If anyone knows differently please respond

That is there list so far so I am hoping it expands this week , not too worried since ,I haven't heard of any actually exploits yet.

I found a small app on the TECHNET site so you don't need to use PowerShell for this though , someone turn the PS Scripts into an .exe so it will run on it's own...

KB.

tracit99 · 08 Jan 2018

@Kbird
Great find on the SpeculationControlEXE.zip. Can you please post a link to Technet? I know that the file is all ready attached, but I would also like a link in Technet as well.

fdegrove · 08 Jan 2018

Hi,

Basically, we're all just waiting for the hardware part to be patched.

Cheers,

Kbird · 08 Jan 2018

tracit99 said:

@Kbird
Great find on the SpeculationControlEXE.zip. Can you please post a link to Technet? I know that the file is all ready attached, but I would also like a link in Technet as well.

It's in TechNet Script Center

The FILE AT THE TOP IS AN EMPTY ZIP at least for me, the one I posted is in the Comments of this post by a guy called Andy-Bentley under EXE version of the SCRIPT at 11.28AM :

Q and A - Speculation Control Validation PowerShell Script

tracit99 · 08 Jan 2018

Thanks @Kbird. That is exactly what I needed and you are right about the zip at the top. It is a zero byte file. The exe will be helpful for those not familiar with MS Powershell. I found out that it needs Powershell 2.0 or higher and I also had to install .Net 3.5.

Kbird · 08 Jan 2018

tracit99 said:

Thanks @Kbird. That is exactly what I needed and you are right about the zip at the top. It is a zero byte file.

The ZIP at the top was just the script for IT Managers etc , my guess is the file was open when they tried to zip it.....

There are actually 3 versions of the .exe now depending on which level of the . Net Framework you have, ie:

This is a link to three versions of the EXE version of the script, compiled respectively
for .NET versions 2.0, 3.0/.5 and 4.0/.5. It also contains the .ps1 script.

Folks having trouble with the module and PS 2.0 - you might find an EXE works for you.

I'm not saying this is a better option than using modules, it's just an alternative approach
and slightly more portable. You still need PS and .NET as-per PS2EXE documentation
as it's more of a wrapper than a true standalone EXE.

qao · 08 Jan 2018

VBF said:

I checked the ASUS Global
link and I'm assuming that they won't provide updates for the "Asus Z87-A Motherboard - Haswell CPU only" which despite being 2013 "vintage" is my main PC and is still as powerful as i need, what with the 16GB memory and SSD.
If anyone knows differently please respond

There's an unofficially released microcode update 23 20/11/2017 for the Haswell line that has a partial fix for spectre.

Improved overclocking for Haswell with updated microcode (+ update CPU microcode through software)

I'm rocking it right now on my rig: 4670K + Maximus VI Hero (Z87) and its been reported to work on these so far:

ASRock Z87 Extreme6
ASRock Z97 Extreme4
ASRock Z97 OC Formula
ASUS Maximus Hero Z87
ASUS Maximus VII Impact
AW17 R1/Ranger/R5
Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC
MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
MSI Z97 G45 Gaming

Unfortunately your mobo lacks the "risk free" ASUS FLASHBACK feature where you can flash your bios when the computer is turned off so there's a chance you'll brick it.

Everyone is better off waiting for the official release and finalized code.