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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

It looks like it's nearly game over [theregister.co.uk] for the Intel Management Engine:

Positive Technologies, which in September said it has a way to attack the Intel Management Engine, has dropped more details on how its exploit works.

The firm has already promised to demonstrate [a] God-mode hack [theregister.co.uk] in December 2017, saying the bug "allows an attacker of the machine to run unsigned code in the Platform Controller Hub on any motherboard".

For some details, we'll have to wait, but what's known is bad enough: Intel Management Engine (IME) talks to standard Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) debugging ports. As does does USB, so Positive Technologies researchers put the two together and crafted a way to access IME from the USB port.

[...] The latest attack came to Vulture South's attention via a couple of Tweets:

Game over! We (I and @_markel___ ) have obtained fully functional JTAG for Intel CSME via USB DCI. #intelme #jtag #inteldci pic.twitter.com/cRPuO8J0oG [t.co]

— Maxim Goryachy (@h0t_max) November 8, 2017 [twitter.com]

Full access the Intel ME( >=Skylake) by JTAG debugging via USB DCI https://t.co/TMvOirXOVI [t.co] @ptsecurity @h0t_max @_markel___

— Hardened-GNU/Linux (@hardenedlinux) November 8, 2017 [twitter.com]

Reddit discussion [reddit.com] linked by LoRdTAW [soylentnews.org] in a journal [soylentnews.org].

Previously: Intel Management Engine Partially Defeated [soylentnews.org]
Disabling Intel ME 11 Via Undocumented Mode [soylentnews.org]
How-To: Disabling the Intel Management Engine [soylentnews.org]
Andrew Tanenbaum's Open Letter to Intel About MINIX 3 [soylentnews.org]

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