Mismatch

The "mismatch vulnerability" is a security vulnerability that affects the way some processors handle memory access. It is a variant of the well-known "speculative execution" vulnerability, which allows an attacker to access sensitive information by exploiting a weakness in the way a processor's speculative execution feature works...

The mismatch vulnerability specifically refers to a variant that occurs when a processor incorrectly predicts the outcome of a conditional branch instruction, leading to a mismatch between the actual data and the data that is speculatively accessed. This can allow an attacker to access sensitive information such as memory contents, register values, and other sensitive information that would not normally be accessible.

The vulnerability was first discovered in 2020, and it affects processors from multiple vendors, including Intel, AMD, and ARM.

The vulnerability can be exploited through a technique called "side-channel attack" which allows an attacker to infer sensitive information by monitoring the timing of operations or other microarchitectural side-effects of the processor.

There are several different ways that an attacker can exploit the mismatch vulnerability, including through a malicious website, a malicious app, or even through a malicious email attachment.

To mitigate the vulnerability, vendors have released software and firmware updates that include patches and mitigations. Additionally, operating system vendors such as Microsoft, Linux, and Apple have also released updates to address the vulnerability.

It's important to note that even with the patches and mitigations, the vulnerability is not completely eliminated, but it makes it much harder for an attacker to exploit.