Microsoft issues security patches for older Intel CPUs on Windows 10 and 11

Intel logo on multi-colored background

Microsoft has taken the unusual step of releasing some security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11 to fix some vulnerabilities in Intel CPUs that were first reported by the chip maker on June 14, 2022.

On that date, Intel disclosed that some of its CPUs had Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO) issues that could allow for data to be exposed. They include Intel 6th Gen processors and Intel Xeon E chips. Microsoft also released its own security notice on that same date. It said:

An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities might be able to read privileged data across trust boundaries. In shared resource environments (such as exists in some cloud services configurations), these vulnerabilities could allow one virtual machine to improperly access information from another. In non-browsing scenarios on standalone systems, an attacker would need prior access to the system or an ability to run a specially crafted application on the target system to leverage these vulnerabilities.

However, it looks like Microsoft has issued a new set of security patches to deal with this Intel CPU issue for Windows 10, and 11, along with Windows Server for 2016, 2019, and 2022 (via Bleeping Computer). The list with the info on all updates can be seen below along with the manual download links: