Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Intel processor microcode security update
On Sat, 07 Sep 2013, shirish शिरीष wrote:
> Would installing the intel processor microcode package and the
> icu-tools have any benefit to me ?
>
> cpuid -1 | grep 'Intel Pentium'
> family = Intel Pentium Pro/II/III/Celeron/Core/Core
> 2/Atom, AMD Athlon/Duron, Cyrix M2, VIA C3 (6)
> (synth) = Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor E5000/E6000 (Wolfdale R0), 45nm
Probably yes.
> The CPU is around 7 yrs. old hence curious if this will improve the CPU or not ?
I feel the easiest way to know this is to actually install the packages and
check whether the kernel reports it updated microcode or not in
/var/log/kern.log.
Here's an example:
grep 'microcode.*update' /var/log/kern.log
kernel: microcode: CPU0 updated to revision 0xab, date = ZZZZ-ZZ-ZZ
If you want to verify it manually, you need to know the numeric signature of
the processor, and search for it on the microcode package changelog.
You can install the iucode-tool package, and ask iucode-tool to check the
processor signature:
*as root*:
modprobe cpuid
apt-get install iucode-tool
/usr/sbin/iucode-tool --scan-system
Then, you look for that signature in the tables at:
http://ftp-master.metadata.debian.org/changelogs/non-free/i/intel-microcode/unstable_changelog
and if you find it there, it is very possible that there is a microcode
update for your processor (there's the pf mask detail, but if you want to
know more about that, please read iucode-tool's README documentation and
manpage). It is also possible that your BIOS already has the latest version
of the microcode for your processor.
--
"One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
Henrique Holschuh
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