Microsoft has temporarily stopped distributing patches to computers and devices running AMD processors after acknowledging that its Windows security…
Bigstock Photo / Rick Deacon
Microsoft has temporarily stopped distributing patches to computers and devices running AMD processors after acknowledging that its Windows security updates for the vulnerabilities known as Meltdown and Spectre left some computers in an “unbootable state.”
The development is a setback for AMD, which was more narrowly impacted by the bugs than its rival Intel was. AMD said previously that its chips were vulnerable to only one variant of Spectre, and not vulnerable to Meltdown. But the overall fix appears to have caused problems for AMD machines regardless.
“Microsoft has reports of customers with some AMD devices getting into an unbootable state after installing recent Windows operating system security updates,” Microsoft says in an update . “After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown.”
The pause in the updates was spotted by The Verge. No word yet on when the updates for AMD machines will resume. Microsoft offers guidance for AMD/Windows users impacted by the situation in this post.
