Surface Go gets security fixes for Spectre-like vulnerability

The Surface Go is getting a round of firmware updates today, and that includes both the Wi-Fi only model and the LTE version. The new updates only include security fixes for security advisory 190013.

If you're unfamiliar with Microsoft security advisory 190013, as most people probably are, it's similar to the Spectre vulnerability that was discovered a while back. Announced by Intel in May, it's a speculative execution side channel vulnerability called Microarchitectural Data Sampling.

The Surface Go updates are available for anyone running the Windows 10 April 2018 Update (version 1803) or newer. Here's the full changelog for the Wi-Fi only model:

Windows Update History Name	Device Manager Name
Surface – Firmware – 1.0.19.0	Surface UEFI – Firmware 1.0.19.0 resolves potential security vulnerabilities, including Microsoft security advisory 190013.

Windows Update History Name

Device Manager Name

Surface – Firmware – 1.0.19.0

Surface UEFI – Firmware

1.0.19.0 resolves potential security vulnerabilities, including Microsoft security advisory 190013.

The LTE model will get the update above, along with the following:

Windows Update History Name	Device Manager Name
Surface – System – 1.5.5.0	Generic IO & Memory Access – System devices 1.5.5.0 resolves potential security vulnerabilities, including Microsoft security advisory 190013.

Windows Update History Name

Device Manager Name

Surface – System – 1.5.5.0

Generic IO & Memory Access – System devices

1.5.5.0 resolves potential security vulnerabilities, including Microsoft security advisory 190013.

The patch for this security vulnerability has already been sent out to most other Surface devices. The only modern Surface PC that hasn't gotten the fix is the Surface Studio 2. Of course, older PCs like the original Surface Pro and the Surface Pro 2 haven't received patches.

These updates will arrive via Windows Update, but you can also download the firmware and driver bundles if you'd like. You can find the package for the Surface Go here, and for the Surface Go LTE Advanced here.