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Go to SolutionURGENT - Intel Management Engine - critical security flaw
Intel has major security flaws in the Management Engine. You need to read the Intel emergency memo from a few hours ago. In the memo, Intel links a tool to check if your system is vulnerable. Right now neither Dell nor Intel has posted updated software to remedy this critical issue for the XPS 9560 or 9550.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000025619/software.html
Do you understand how updates work? That security advisory was originally released YESTERDAY, and it doesn't even indicate that INTEL has developed a fix for this yet. That will probably take a while, especially because security-related code is typically harder to write correctly than "regular" code in order to avoid introducing new bugs. And then AFTER Intel develops the fix, they have to provide it to OEMs like Dell and others so they can roll that fix into their own BIOS updates. Then THOSE updates need to be tested internally to make sure nothing else breaks. If you've been around these forums for a while, you may be aware that some recent BIOS updates have had some adverse side effects like destabilizing USB device connectivity through Dell docks or even wiping out a system's boot device list, rendering it unbootable. Obviously customers would prefer that things like that don't happen.
Bottom line: The fact that a fix may be critically important to have does not automatically make it possible to deliver right away. Even if every engineer that would have to be involved with this dropped everything else they were doing to work on this, it would STILL take some amount of time, certainly more than a day especially given that Dell can't do anything until Intel does.
jgcchmsuser
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Posted November 21st, 2017 14:00
DELL-Alasdair R
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Posted November 22nd, 2017 02:00
Here is the Dell statement (for client/consumer systems) on the matter. It will be updated as and when further information is available.
DELL-Alasdair R
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Posted November 22nd, 2017 06:00
Yes, there is here.
My laptop Latitude E5470 was originally listed in the Dell statement but later on has been removed from the list. Running the Intel-SA-00086 Detection Tool it clearly states that my system is vulnerable.
Does this mean that Dell will not issue a fix for my laptop?
jphughan
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Posted November 21st, 2017 10:00
Lol, ok then. Well if this is how you feel about security vulnerabilities that Intel has acknowledged and is committing to fix, then I can't wait to see your reaction to the other news that broke about Intel Management Engine last week, which they might NOT fix because "it's not a security vulnerability, it's a feature": thenextweb.com/.../