Linus Torvalds, the mastermind behind Linux, is not one to mince words, especially when it comes to the hurdles presented by major hardware manufacturers like Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA. Known for his candid critique, Torvalds has recently expressed his frustration regarding these companies’ contributions to vulnerabilities within their hardware.
Currently, his focus is on the Linux kernel, where ongoing modifications are necessary due to bugs and crashes predominantly linked to hardware issues. In a recent revelation, he pointed a finger at the modifications in the open-source Linux kernel, attributing the root cause to the hardware manufacturers.
Torvalds specifically cited Intel’s newest CPUs, which debut with support for Linear Address Masking (LAM). He vented his frustration via the Linux Kernel Mailing List, clearly upset by what he perceives as Intel’s failure to address issues produced by their technological advancements. He noted, “I’m pretty damn fed up with buggy hardware and completely theoretical attacks that have never actually shown themselves to be used in practice.” His no-nonsense attitude suggests a desire for hardware manufacturers to take responsibility for their shortcomings.
The main concern revolves around LAM, a feature intended to enhance memory integrity through a pointer-based implementation. However, this has led to frequent speculative attacks known as SLAM, currently a thorn in Torvalds’ side.
An Intel engineer defended the situation by stating that LAM was supposed to be disabled while a fix was being prepared, although this action has yet to be realized. They mentioned that SLAM attacks would eventually be mitigated by employing Linear Address Space Separation (LASS), though a fix remains forthcoming.
Linus Torvalds has previously criticized AMD over their fTPM, urging them to disable it, arguing it shouldn’t be active during runtime. His readiness to publicly call out tech giants shows his commitment to maintaining the integrity and reliability of Linux, even if it means ruffling some corporate feathers. Such actions highlight his unyielding dedication to ensuring that Linux users get the best possible experience, free from avoidable hardware-induced glitches.
