If there is a backdoor, it could be widely exposed. And such a hypothetical backdoor may not be patchable AT ALL.
As in, there may a possibility for almost every computer being vulnerable to a RCE that bypasses even the OS.
As in, there may a possibility for almost every computer being vulnerable to a RCE that bypasses even the OS.
Intel microcode can be loaded at runtime. If there's a backdoor in the microcode then it can, by definition, be patched.
h0t_max’s research means that future attacks — once your local machine has been infiltrated by some other means — can do a lot more damage than simply encrypting your filesystem or sending spam. They can rewrite the way your CPU works.
When your OS gets attacked by malware it is attacking the layer above the bare metal on which your OS runs. The base hardware remains untouched. You can at least clean things up by installing a new OS on the bare metal.
If malware attacks the bare metal itself, then you are stuck out of luck.
If the malware shuts that patching off...