AMD EPYC Secure Encrypted Virtualization Is Not As Secure As It Sounds

Secure Encrypted Virtualization was one of features that AMD was quite proud of and touted it as one of the best and secure features for the AMD EPYC CPU.

Secure Encrypted Virtualization was one of the features that AMD was quite proud of and touted it as one of the best and secure features for the AMD EPYC CPU. However, things are not as they seem and the Secure Encrypted Virtualization is not as secure as AMD was making us believe it to be.

This is according to Germany-based IT security research team Fraunhofer AISEC, who has published its research detailing that AMD EPYC Secure Encrypted Virtualization is not as secure as AMD wants us to believe. First, let us discuss what is the purpose of Secure Encrypted Virtualization and how it works.

This particular feature of AMD EPYC encrypts parts of the memory of the host system which hosts other virtual machines or guests. The key for the encryption is stored on the processor so that host is not able to access guest’s data or read the contents of the guest’s memory.

This feature was designed for could computing and other hosting companies so that user’s data would remain secure. With Secure Encrypted Virtualization, small businesses with sensitive data wouldn’t have to spend a lot on dedicated hosting.

However, the researchers used a technique called “SEVered” which reveals that this feature is not that secure. With this exploit, researchers were able to bypass SEV and copy the decrypted data from the guest’s virtual memory. You can check out full details of the exploits here.

Speaking of AMD, a report has made its way to the internet suggesting that 12-16 Core AMD Ryzen CPUs will be dropping in 2019. Furthermore, the sources emphasized that 12 Core AMD Ryzen CPUs for the AM4 chipset will be the most likely outcome in 2019.

Furthermore, AMD has completed Zen 2 architecture design which will be based on 7 nm process and if the rumor is true then we might see AMD Ryzen CPUs with 12-16 cores based on Zen 2 architecture.

What do you think of this AMD EPYC exploit? Let us know in the comments.

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