System software utilizing Lazy FP state restore technique on systems using Intel Core-based microprocessors may potentially allow a local process to infer data from another process through a speculative execution side channel. A Floating Point Unit (FPU) state information leakage flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel saved and restored the FPU state during task switch. Linux kernels that follow the "Lazy FPU Restore" scheme are vulnerable to the FPU state information leakage issue. An unprivileged local attacker could use this flaw to read FPU state bits by conducting targeted cache side-channel attacks, similar to the Meltdown vulnerability disclosed earlier this year.
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