Last month, a Google researcher discovered a major data leakage vulnerability for all AMD processors that are built on the Zen 2 architecture, including the Steam Deck's APU. Dubbed Zenbleed, this exploit could lead to some major issues, but thankfully, as reported by Phoronix, a new Linux Kernel update has been pushed out that will fix this so we won't have to worry about any possible hacking through this exploit.

Linux Kernel update for CPU Exploit on Zen 2 processors

In the article, Michael Larabel mentions that this Linux Kernel update was actually already updated last month to mitigate for Zenbleed, but the Steam Deck APU was left out. With this merging, the Steam Deck will now enable the fallback fix until a proper CPU update is available. With this new update, it is believed that the fix will hit the Linux Git this weekend and will be picked up by other various stable branches over the next few days.

So What is "Zenbleed" Exactly?

I won't go into too much detail here, but Zenbleed is an exploit that can be used to leak your data like passwords and encryption keys. This exploit only affects AMD processors that use the Zen 2 architecture, which is a wide range of processors. The exploit takes advantage of when a processor is trying to speculate or predict the next thing they need to do. This is done by CPUs to improve performance, but when exploited, it could allow an attacker to transfer sensitive data to themselves.

Now, this exploit is pretty complicated and it isn't something most people will need to worry about, but an exploit is an exploit, so having it patched will be wonderful regardless. While AMD has rolled out patches for other CPUs in the Zen 2 line that are used in data centers, the consumer lines of processors will take several months with a goal to have them out by the end of this year.

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Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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