Single Instruction Multiple Data Leaks in Cutting-edge CPUs - AKA Downfall

Explore the groundbreaking Downfall attacks in this 35-minute Black Hat conference talk. Delve into new transient execution attacks that compromise the security of computers across the internet. Learn how the "Gather" instruction on high-performance Intel CPUs can be exploited to leak data across various boundaries, including user-kernel, processes, virtual machines, and trusted execution environments. Discover how these findings and exploitation techniques overcome previous defenses, necessitating critical hardware fixes and security updates for widely-used client and server computers. Examine the SIMD Gather instruction, understand the mechanics of Gather Data Sampling (GDS), and investigate how this vulnerability impacts various instructions and workloads. Presented by Daniel Moghimi, this talk provides crucial insights into cutting-edge CPU vulnerabilities and their far-reaching implications for cybersecurity.