Spectre and Meltdown: Linus Torvalds Slams Intel
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 10:37 am
Linux guru laments Intel's approach to fixing bugs in processors.
Linus Torvalds is unhappy with the patches Intel has developed to protect the Linux kernel from Spectre and Meltdown. In a Linux kernel mailing list, the creator of the operating system criticizes the differences in the way patches for Spectre and Meltdown are written. He writes, “They (Intel) are doing things that are literally insane. They are doing things that don’t make sense.” He adds, “I really don’t want to see these garbage patches just sent out without thinking.”
Spectre and Meltdown are design flaws in modern nigeria whatsapp data that can allow hackers to bypass security on a wide range of PCs, servers, and smartphones, giving attackers access to data in memory, including passwords. Since the bugs were discovered, the tech industry has been scrambling to fix them before they are exploited.
However, some who subscribed to the mailing list took a different view. “Sure, it’s a nasty mistake, but hey, the world woke up and in the end, we didn’t have to shut down the data centers and go back to raising goats, so it’s not that bad,” wrote one.
This isn't the first time the Linux chief has criticized Intel's handling of the Spectre and Meltdown bugs. Earlier this month, he said, "I think someone at Intel needs to take a hard look at their processors and admit that they actually have problems — instead of writing blurbs that claim everything works as intended."
Torvalds also said he had decided not to release the final version of Linux 4.15 this weekend as planned because it needed some work. Instead, he decided to release a preview version with a 9 suffix. Torvalds had previously warned that the hype around Meltdown and Spectre could lead to another preview.
Linus Torvalds is unhappy with the patches Intel has developed to protect the Linux kernel from Spectre and Meltdown. In a Linux kernel mailing list, the creator of the operating system criticizes the differences in the way patches for Spectre and Meltdown are written. He writes, “They (Intel) are doing things that are literally insane. They are doing things that don’t make sense.” He adds, “I really don’t want to see these garbage patches just sent out without thinking.”
Spectre and Meltdown are design flaws in modern nigeria whatsapp data that can allow hackers to bypass security on a wide range of PCs, servers, and smartphones, giving attackers access to data in memory, including passwords. Since the bugs were discovered, the tech industry has been scrambling to fix them before they are exploited.
However, some who subscribed to the mailing list took a different view. “Sure, it’s a nasty mistake, but hey, the world woke up and in the end, we didn’t have to shut down the data centers and go back to raising goats, so it’s not that bad,” wrote one.
This isn't the first time the Linux chief has criticized Intel's handling of the Spectre and Meltdown bugs. Earlier this month, he said, "I think someone at Intel needs to take a hard look at their processors and admit that they actually have problems — instead of writing blurbs that claim everything works as intended."
Torvalds also said he had decided not to release the final version of Linux 4.15 this weekend as planned because it needed some work. Instead, he decided to release a preview version with a 9 suffix. Torvalds had previously warned that the hype around Meltdown and Spectre could lead to another preview.