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Intel Processors "Security Bug" fix and pre 10.13

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Pismo4u

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2007
5
3
Been reading the news about Intel's processor flaw that affects all CPUs made in the last 10+ years.

Just google Intel bug "Meltdown" and "Spectre". It relates to to the Kernel / memory access and possible malicious hacks.

Supposedly Apple silently fixed this bug in the latest High Sierra update back in December.

My concern is I like using El Capitan on my upgraded 2012 Mac Pro tower since everything is working properly and I don't really want to move to High Sierra. I also have a 2009 Mac Pro that is not upgradeable to High Sierra unless I do an EFI and processor upgrade.

I'm waiting to see if Apple also does a security fix for the older OSX versions or if they are going to capitalize on this by making it where you need to upgrade to High Sierra if you want the fix / patch. Since some older machines might not "meet" the system requirements for High Sierra, that means you are left out in the cold.

If Apple goes this route, I guess I won't be buying any more Apple products as I do not like the way they are going (Microsoft just announced it will be patching Windows 10 and 8.1 on the 4th and then Windows 7 & 8 by the 9th). iPhone with no headphone jack (sell more Beats wireless headphones), No Blu-Ray drives (iTunes Store -purchase movies), MacBook Pro's and all those extra dongles (they make lots of profit by licensing their "ports"), no thanks.
 
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droplink

macrumors regular
Dec 7, 2014
166
136
I can only agree. However, I think it is a matter of time before Apple upgrades all OS'es down as fas as El Capitan at least. Apple has in this respect been good in providing security updates to older systems. There have been quite a few updates to the OS and Safari.
And iTunes on El Capitan is still updated.

What I am concerned about, is the potential slowdown. My MacBook Pro is old, but it is still working away, and I can still run an older Adobe Creative Suite and iMovie on it when needs be, but if if suddenly becomes 30% slower, then it will have to be replaced, which is not something I had planned yet.
4000 bucks is a lot of money...

EDIT: come to think of it, now is a good time to wait for new chips that will not have the security bug. But they are not even in production yet...
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
droplink said:
EDIT: come to think of it, now is a good time to wait for new chips that will not have the security bug. But they are not even in production yet...
Click to expand...
You may be in for a long wait, the chip pipeline from drawing board to production is around 12 to 18 months if not longer
[doublepost=1515240603][/doublepost]
Pismo4u said:
I'm waiting to see if Apple also does a security fix for the older OSX versions or if they are going to capitalize on this by making it where you need to upgrade to High Sierra if you want the fix / patch. Since some older machines might not "meet" the system requirements for High Sierra, that means you are left out in the cold.
Click to expand...
The downside of the update may be a significant performance hit, so you may be facing some hard decisions on your older machine
 
P

Pismo4u

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2007
5
3
JonnyAlpha said:
Any news on El Capitan security update for these issues (Spectre and Meltdown)?
Click to expand...

Seems Apple is only updating High Sierra as of 1/8/2018.

I believe you are looking for CVE-2017-5754 (Meltdown) reference on the update for pre High Sierra. So while it appears from other CVE entries that a "memory" access issue was resolved, you are still looking for the one mentioned.

No OSX Intel bug patches so far on Sierra and El Capitan. They only updated Safari for "Sprectre" on Sierra and El Capitan.

Their way out is to say not to download any apps unless it's from a trusted source such as the App Store. Seems like they are pushing everyone to purchase through them since they take a 30% cut and the developer takes 70%.

If Apple does not do an update for Pre-High Sierra, I'm not purchasing any Mac products ever again. I gave my mother my old 2009 8-core i7 Mac Pro and that one cannot have High Sierra loaded without a processor update and EFI hack.

I'm still using El Capitan since I don't see any reason to update to High Sierra since all the software I have is working 100% and stable. I can go weeks and up to months without rebooting.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208394
 
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Pismo4u

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 2, 2007
5
3
I believe you are looking for CVE-2017-5754 (Meltdown) reference on the update for pre High Sierra. So while it appears from other CVE entries that a "memory" access issue was resolved, you are still looking for the one mentioned.

Someone else mentioned that Apple "updated" their own page on the Apple web site and removed mention of the Meltdown resolution on Sierra and El Capitan. So the current wording on their own page is different than what showed a couple days ago.

No OSX Intel bug patches so far on Sierra and El Capitan. They only updated Safari for "Sprectre" on Sierra and El Capitan.

I myself am still waiting for the patch, but seems that Apple is dragging their feet or they simply don't care if you are running an older OSX.
 
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DMCrimson

macrumors newbie
Jan 14, 2018
2
3
I just wonder if there's any information available on Security Update Developer Betas... I see 2018-001 but there's simply no information out :/
 
Argyboy

Argyboy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2017
139
87
Dublin, Ireland
It would be really poor if Apple doesn't offer an OS patch for these bugs for Sierra and El Cap, seeing as they are still officially supported. Not everybody wants to upgrade to High Sierra - in my case, I can't, so it would be really bad if they don't offer a security patch of some sort for this.
 
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Burbulator

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2012
14
3
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