Microsoft releases new emergency Windows update to deactivate Intel’s buggy security patches on your PC

2 min. read

Published onJanuary 29, 2018

published onJanuary 29, 2018

Share this article

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Intel asking everyone toskip its flawed firmware updateswas apparently not enough for Microsoft. Over the weekend, the Redmond giant released another emergency update for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 that disable Intel’s mitigation against Spectre variant 2, which has been causing system instability (viaThe Verge).

Intel previously acknowledged that recent security patches forall processors released over the last five yearscould cause reboot issues. “Our own experience is that system instability can in some circumstances cause data loss or corruption,” Microsoft added in asupport pagethis weekend.

The chip maker also said that it has already identified the root cause of reboot issues on Broadwell and Haswell processors, and that it’s currently working on new firmware updates for these CPU architectures. Obviously, Microsoft didn’t want to wait as these system instability are more serious than expected:

While Intel tests, updates and deploys new microcode, we are making available an out of band update today, KB4078130, that specifically disables only the mitigation against CVE-2017-5715 – “Branch target injection vulnerability.” In our testing this update has been found to prevent the behavior described.

For now, the KB4078130 security update is only available to download from theMicrosoft Update Catalog website. IT admins can also manually disable Intel’s mitigation against Spectre Variant 2 by applying new registry key settings, and more details are available on thissupport page.

“As of January 25, there are no known reports to indicate that this Spectre variant 2 (CVE 2017-5715 ) has been used to attack customers,” Microsoft added. Installing this new Windows update will leave your PC unprotected against this Spectre variant, though you may not really have a choice if you did encounter reboot issues (or worse) after installing recent firmware updates from Intel.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

User forum

0 messages

Sort by:LatestOldestMost Votes

Comment*

Name*

Email*

Commenting as.Not you?

Save information for future comments

Comment

Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

Microsoft releases new emergency Windows update to deactivate Intel’s buggy security patches on your PC#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Microsoft releases new emergency Windows update to deactivate Intel’s buggy security patches on your PC