Intel released new details of availability for microcode updates that address the Meltdown and Spectre design flaws in Intel processors. According to the company, Intel has stopped working on microcode updates for certain Intel processors as noted in the release.
An excerpt from the Intel guidance:
”After a comprehensive investigation of the microarchitectures and microcode capabilities for these products, Intel has determined to not release microcode updates for these products for one or more reasons including, but not limited to the following:
- Micro-architectural characteristics that preclude a practical implementation of features mitigating Variant 2 (CVE-2017-5715)
- Limited Commercially Available System Software support
- Based on customer inputs, most of these products are implemented as “closed systems” and therefore are expected to have a lower likelihood of exposure to these vulnerabilities.”
The processors affected with the “Stopped” update status include older CPUs made between 2007 and 2011 to include: Bloomfield, Bloomfield Xeon, Clarksfield, Gulftown, Harpertown Xeon C0/E0, Jasper Forest, Penryn/QC, SoFIA 3GR, Wolfdale, Wolfdale Xeon, Yorkfield and Yorkfield Xeon CPU families.