PACMAN security flaw in M1

[drofgnal]

Apparently some researchers at MIT discovered a security flaw in the M1 chip that is unmatchable. But they say it is not a concern. I'm not computer architecture expert, so I don't have a clue what they are talking about. I read it may exist in the M2 as well.



https://gizmodo.com/apple-m1-chip-se...ble-1849046101

[David Munch]

It requires physical access to the unit, so I think most of us are quite safe.

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by David Munch

It requires physical access to the unit, so I think most of us are quite safe.

No it does not.

Is it game over for M1-based MacBook owners, though? There are reports that physical access to a machine is needed, though CSAIL affiliate and the paper's co-author Joseph Ravichandran tells HotHardware that those reports are erroneous.

We actually did all our experiments over the network on a machine in another room. PACMAN works just fine remotely if you have unprivileged code execution," the researchers explain an FAQ.

from:

https://hothardware.com/news/apple-m...-style-attacks

Itself cannot be patched but it requires memory corruption bugs that can be patched. All of this is beyond my level of understanding.