Plundervolt exposes vulnerability in security technology of Intel processors

Computer scientists from imec-DistriNet (KU Leuven), the University of Birmingham, and TU Graz have shown that the possibility to adjust the operating voltage of Intel processors makes them vulnerable to attack. Modern processors are being pushed to perform faster than ever before, and with this come increases in heat and power consumption. That is why many chip manufacturers allow for frequency and voltage to be adjusted as and when needed - known as 'undervolting' or 'overvolting' - through what is known as privileged software interfaces. Plundervolt attack. In a project called Plundervolt, an international team of researchers examined how these interfaces may be exploited in Intel Core processors to undermine the system's security. The researchers were able to corrupt the integrity of critical computations in so-called SGX "enclaves", which work as a vault for personal data in Intel Core processors (see box below) . Intel's state-of-the-art SGX technology was introduced to shield sensitive computations even in the presence of the most advanced types of malware.