A newly discovered class of vulnerabilities in Intel processors, termed Branch Predictor Race Conditions (BPRC), allows attackers to systematically extract sensitive data from the cache and random-access memory (RAM) of other users sharing the same hardware.
Affecting all Intel processors released in the past six years-including those in consumer devices and cloud server infrastructure-the vulnerability exploits speculative execution technologies designed to accelerate computational performance.
Researchers from ETH Zurich’s Computer Security Group (COMSEC) demonstrated that malicious actors could leverage BPRC to bypass privilege barriers at the processor level, achieving unauthorized readouts of memory contents at rates exceeding 5,000 bytes per second.
This flaw poses acute risks for multi-tenant cloud environments, where shared hardware resources amplify the potential for cross-user data breaches.
Speculative Execution and Its Inherent Security Trade-Offs
Modern processors employ speculative execution to predict and precompute likely instructions, reducing latency in program execution.
By anticipating branches in code execution paths, such as conditional statements, CPUs can maintain computational throughput even during delays caused by data fetches from slower memory systems. However, this performance optimization creates side channels that attackers can exploit.
ETH Zurich’s Kaveh Razavi, head of COMSEC, notes that speculative technologies “fundamentally undermin
Source: https://cybersecuritynews.com/new-vulnerability-affects-all-intel-processors/
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/intel-labs
"id": "int0000000051625",
"linkid": "intel-labs",
"type": "Vulnerability",
"date": "2025-05-16T00:00:00.000Z",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'incident': {'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': None,
'industry': 'Semiconductors/Technology',
'location': 'Global',
'name': 'Intel Corporation',
'size': 'Large (100,000+ Employees)',
'type': 'Hardware Manufacturer'},
{'customers_affected': None,
'industry': 'Technology/Cloud Computing',
'location': 'Global',
'name': None,
'size': None,
'type': 'Cloud Service Providers'},
{'customers_affected': None,
'industry': 'Multiple',
'location': 'Global',
'name': None,
'size': None,
'type': 'End-Users '
'(Consumer/Enterprise)'}],
'attack_vector': ['Local Privilege Escalation',
'Cross-Tenant Data Leakage (Cloud '
'Environments)',
'Memory Cache Exfiltration'],
'data_breach': {'data_encryption': None,
'data_exfiltration': 'Yes (Demonstrated at '
'5,000+ Bytes/Second)',
'file_types_exposed': None,
'number_of_records_exposed': None,
'personally_identifiable_information': 'Potential '
'(If '
'Present '
'in '
'Memory)',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (Depends on Memory '
'Contents, Including '
'Potential PII, '
'Credentials, or '
'Proprietary Data)',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Memory Cache '
'Contents',
'RAM Data',
'Potentially '
'Sensitive '
'User/Application '
'Data']},
'description': 'A newly discovered class of vulnerabilities in '
'Intel processors, termed Branch Predictor Race '
'Conditions (BPRC), allows attackers to '
'systematically extract sensitive data from the '
'cache and random-access memory (RAM) of other '
'users sharing the same hardware. Affecting all '
'Intel processors released in the past six '
'years—including those in consumer devices and '
'cloud server infrastructure—the vulnerability '
'exploits speculative execution technologies '
'designed to accelerate computational '
'performance. Researchers from ETH Zurich’s '
'Computer Security Group (COMSEC) demonstrated '
'that malicious actors could leverage BPRC to '
'bypass privilege barriers at the processor '
'level, achieving unauthorized readouts of memory '
'contents at rates exceeding 5,000 bytes per '
'second. This flaw poses acute risks for '
'multi-tenant cloud environments, where shared '
'hardware resources amplify the potential for '
'cross-user data breaches.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': ['Potential Erosion of '
'Trust in Intel Hardware '
'Security',
'Cloud Provider '
'Reputation Risks'],
'conversion_rate_impact': None,
'customer_complaints': None,
'data_compromised': ['Memory Contents (Cache/RAM)',
'Sensitive Data from '
'Multi-Tenant Environments'],
'downtime': None,
'financial_loss': None,
'identity_theft_risk': ['High (Due to Memory Content '
'Exposure)'],
'legal_liabilities': None,
'operational_impact': ['Potential Cross-User Data '
'Breaches in Cloud '
'Environments',
'Privilege Escalation Risks'],
'payment_information_risk': ['High (If Payment Data '
'Resides in Affected '
'Memory)'],
'revenue_loss': None,
'systems_affected': ['Intel Processors (Last 6 Years)',
'Consumer Devices',
'Cloud Server Infrastructure']},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing Research (Demonstrated by ETH '
'Zurich; No Public Incident Reports Yet)',
'lessons_learned': 'Speculative execution technologies in modern '
'processors introduce fundamental security '
'trade-offs, creating exploitable side '
'channels that bypass traditional privilege '
'barriers. Hardware-level vulnerabilities can '
'have cascading impacts across consumer '
'devices and cloud infrastructures, '
'emphasizing the need for proactive security '
'research and collaborative disclosure.',
'post_incident_analysis': {'corrective_actions': None,
'root_causes': ['Inherent security '
'trade-offs in '
'speculative '
'execution '
'technologies',
'Lack of '
'hardware-level '
'isolation for '
'multi-tenant memory '
'access',
'Privilege barrier '
'bypass via branch '
'predictor race '
'conditions']},
'recommendations': ['Intel and other chipmakers should invest in '
'redesigning speculative execution '
'mechanisms to eliminate side-channel risks '
'without sacrificing performance.',
'Cloud providers should implement additional '
'isolation techniques (e.g., memory '
'encryption, process separation) to mitigate '
'cross-tenant data leakage.',
'End-users and enterprises should monitor '
'patches/updates from Intel and apply '
'mitigations promptly, particularly in '
'shared environments.',
'Further academic-industry collaboration is '
'critical to identifying and addressing '
'hardware-level vulnerabilities before '
'exploitation.'],
'references': [{'date_accessed': None,
'source': 'ETH Zurich’s Computer Security Group '
'(COMSEC)',
'url': None}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'fines_imposed': None,
'legal_actions': None,
'regulations_violated': None,
'regulatory_notifications': None},
'response': {'adaptive_behavioral_waf': None,
'communication_strategy': None,
'containment_measures': None,
'enhanced_monitoring': None,
'incident_response_plan_activated': None,
'law_enforcement_notified': None,
'network_segmentation': None,
'on_demand_scrubbing_services': None,
'recovery_measures': None,
'remediation_measures': None,
'third_party_assistance': ['ETH Zurich’s Computer '
'Security Group '
'(COMSEC)']},
'title': 'Branch Predictor Race Conditions (BPRC) Vulnerability '
'in Intel Processors',
'type': ['Hardware Vulnerability',
'Side-Channel Attack',
'Speculative Execution Exploit'],
'vulnerability_exploited': 'Branch Predictor Race Conditions '
'(BPRC) in Intel Processors '
'(Speculative Execution Side '
'Channel)'}}