Red Hat: RHSA-2018:0093: Important: microcode_ctl security update

Description

The microcode_ctl packages provide microcode updates for Intel and AMD processors.

This update supersedes microcode provided by Red Hat with the CVE-2017-5715 (“Spectre”) CPU branch injection vulnerability mitigation. (Historically, Red Hat has provided updated microcode, developed by our microprocessor partners, as a customer convenience.) Further testing has uncovered problems with the microcode provided along with the “Spectre” mitigation that could lead to system instabilities. As a result, Red Hat is providing an microcode update that reverts to the last known good microcode version dated before 03 January 2018. Red Hat strongly recommends that customers contact their hardware provider for the latest microcode updates.

IMPORTANT: Customers using Intel Skylake-, Broadwell-, and Haswell-based platforms must obtain and install updated microcode from their hardware vendor immediately. The "Spectre" mitigation requires both an updated kernel from Red Hat and updated microcode from your hardware vendor.