Redmond computing giant Microsoft has issued a Windows update disabling Intel’s Spectre patches.
As reported by The Verge, the latest Windows update issued on January 27th, 2018 contains code designed to disable Intel’s patch against Spectre Variant 2.
The latest update can only be installed manually by accessing the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Intel announced on January 22nd that device manufacturers and software developers stop implementing current versions of the company’s own software patches, “as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behaviour.”
Microsoft confirmed Intel’s concerns, stating, “our own experience is that system instability can in some circumstances cause data loss or corruption,” in a January 26th, 2018 support note.
Microsoft’s January 27th update, therefore, is meant to serve as Redmond’s own solution to Spectre Variant 2, in order to continue protecting users against potential security risks.
“In our testing, this update has been found the prevent the behaviour described,” reads an excerpt from the same January 26th support note.
The latest Windows update is available to client-side and server-side Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and all versions of Windows 10 devices.
Source: Microsoft
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