Monday, February 17, 2025
HomeSecurity NewsSGXPECTRE New Variant of Spectre that Allows Attackers to Extract Data From...

SGXPECTRE New Variant of Spectre that Allows Attackers to Extract Data From Intel SGX Enclaves

Published on

SIEM as a Service

Follow Us on Google News

A new type of side channel attack(SGXPECTRE) against SGX enclaves revealed by security researchers that could compromise the security of SGX enclaves.

SGX is a hardware extension that provides an isolated shielded environment for software applications to run isolated from other software systems. The SGX extensions available with the recent versions of Intel processors.

Security researchers from Ohio State University discovered this new breed of the spectre attack in SGX that could allow the attackers to extract the secrets from the SGX enclaves. Researchers published a paper on how malicious programs can observe the codes executing SGX enclave.

The traditional side-channel attacks are feasible only if the enclave program already has secure dependent memory access patterns, but SGXPECTRE Attacks are more concerning and it completely compromises the security of the enclaves.

Researchers said “if the enclave code can be influenced by the programs that are running outside of enclave, the control flow of the external program can be temporarily altered to execute instructions that lead to observable cache-state changes.

Also Read Intel Expands Bug Bounty Program Rewards To $250,000 for Meltdown and Spectre Like Vulnerabilities

“We demonstrate end-to-end attacks to show that the adversary could learn the content of the enclave memory, as well as its register values in such attacks,” researchers said.

Such as adversary observing the changes with SGX enclaves completely defeated the confidentiality guarantee that offered by SGX enclaves.

An application that implements Retpoline which allows indirect branches to be isolated from speculative execution is immune to SGXPECTRE Attacks.

Intel is to publish updates for SgxPectre on March 16th, researchers suggested specifying the minimum CPUSVN during their development.

With the vulnerable code patterns inside the SDK runtime libraries, any code developed with Intel’s official SGX SDK will be impacted by the attacks. It doesn’t matter how the enclave program is implemented.

Gurubaran
Gurubaran
Gurubaran is a co-founder of Cyber Security News and GBHackers On Security. He has 10+ years of experience as a Security Consultant, Editor, and Analyst in cybersecurity, technology, and communications.

Latest articles

Android’s New Security Feature Prevents Sensitive Setting Changes During Calls

Phone scams are becoming more sophisticated with advancements in AI-driven speech tools, making it...

Hackers Exploit Microsoft Teams Invites to Gain Unauthorized Access

The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has uncovered an ongoing and sophisticated phishing campaign...

Meta’s Bug Bounty Initiative Pays $2.3 Million to Security Researchers in 2024

Meta's commitment to cybersecurity took center stage in 2024 as the tech giant awarded...

Google Chrome Introduces AI to Block Malicious Websites and Downloads

Google has taken a significant step in enhancing internet safety by integrating artificial intelligence...

Supply Chain Attack Prevention

Free Webinar - Supply Chain Attack Prevention

Recent attacks like Polyfill[.]io show how compromised third-party components become backdoors for hackers. PCI DSS 4.0’s Requirement 6.4.3 mandates stricter browser script controls, while Requirement 12.8 focuses on securing third-party providers.

Join Vivekanand Gopalan (VP of Products – Indusface) and Phani Deepak Akella (VP of Marketing – Indusface) as they break down these compliance requirements and share strategies to protect your applications from supply chain attacks.

Discussion points

Meeting PCI DSS 4.0 mandates.
Blocking malicious components and unauthorized JavaScript execution.
PIdentifying attack surfaces from third-party dependencies.
Preventing man-in-the-browser attacks with proactive monitoring.

More like this

New FUD Malware Targets MacOS, Evading Antivirus and Security Tools

A new strain of Fully Undetectable (FUD) macOS malware, dubbed "Tiny FUD," has emerged,...

Google Blocks 2.28 Million Malicious Apps from Play Store in Security Crackdown

In a continued commitment to enhancing user safety and trust, Google has outlined significant...

Hackers Exploiting DNS Poisoning to Compromise Active Directory Environments

A groundbreaking technique for Kerberos relaying over HTTP, leveraging multicast poisoning, has been recently...