All recent AMD CPUs are affected by the 'Inception' vulnerability

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor
(Image credit: Future)

It's been a rough few weeks for CPU vendors as far as security vulnerabilities go. Just days ago, I wrote about the Downfall vulnerability that affects Intel's 6th through to 11th Generation chips, and just as importantly how a patch can dramatically affect performance. Now it's AMD's turn to take some pain.

AMD's Zen 3 and Zen 4 CPUs are affected by what is known as the 'Inception' vulnerability. Like many recent attacks, this one is a side channel attack that can lead to the exposure of otherwise secure data. AMD says its Zen 1 and Zen 2 generations are unaffected.

Our sister site Tom's Hardware wrote about Inception a few days back. Essentially, the exploit is similar to the more well known Spectre attack. It allows a malicious actor to access data stored in memory by taking advantage of the branch prediction features of modern CPUs. This includes things like passwords and security keys.

AMD says malware would be needed to take advantage of the exploit, which it says for now has not happened outside of research circles. Nevertheless, mitigating patches are coming.

Users will have the option of applying a microcode patch or a full AGESA BIOS update. On the consumer side of things, BIOS' for mobile and desktop processors are set to roll out this month. 

Your next upgrade

Nvidia RTX 4070 and RTX 3080 Founders Edition graphics cards

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.

Much like it did after the Downfall patches were released for Intel processors, Phoronix tested Linux kernel and microcode mitigations. The results are very much workload dependent. In the worst case, MariaDB lost over 50% of performance. However, more consumer oriented apps like 7zip and Firefox fared better, though 7zip still lost upwards of 13%.

There's a bit of good news for gamers. Phoronix ran the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme benchmark which showed an insignificant drop in performance. That bodes well for gaming. We'll have to wait until patches are rolled out for consumer motherboards before knowing what effects mitigations will have in the Windows ecosystem, but for now it seems as though compute intensive professional and enterprise level software is most affected.

As I said last week when talking about Downfall, there's no need to panic. It will be well worth keeping an eye on your motherboard's product page, and you should update your BIOS when or if the vendor recommends you to do so. It goes without saying that you should also be vigilant at all times and not click dodgy links or run non trusted apps.

I just hope the cures for these vulnerabilities aren't worse than the problems themselves.

Chris Szewczyk
Hardware Writer

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.

Read more
Pipboy holds up an open padlock.
A BIOS update could be all that's stopping you or someone else from jailbreaking your old AMD CPU
ASRock X870 Steel Legend WiFi motherboard
Reddit reports of 9800X3D CPUs dying in ASRock motherboards are racking up fast, but a new BIOS update seemingly only addresses boot problems
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor
AMD accuses Intel's Arrow Lake of being a 'horrible' product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage
AMD press slide detailing the Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor.
AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D CPUs are rumoured to launch at the end of March at roughly the same time as the RX 9070-series GPUs
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor
AMD's CEO Dr Lisa Su claims 'highest sell-out in many years' for desktop processors and the company is 'catching up with some demand' for gaming CPUs
A close-up photo of AMD's AM4 CPU socket
Old AM4 CPUs including the Ryzen 5000 still make up 50% of AMD's sales today
Latest in Processors
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node
AMD Strix Point APU chip, held in a hand, with the reflected light showing the various processing blocks in the chip die
AMD's next-gen 'Gorgon Point' APU outted and seemingly sticks with RDNA 3.5 graphics which is disappointing for handheld gaming PCs if accurate
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivering pancakes and sausages to pre-GTC show hosts and guests, wearing an apron
'There might be a party. I wasn't invited,' says Jensen Huang of the rumoured TSMC proposal to join forces and run Intel's chip fabs
Nvidia Feynman GPU
While we despair of RTX 50-series supplies and wait on next-gen Rubin, Nvidia reveals its next-next GPU architecture will be known as Feynman and is due in 2028
Nvidia Vera CPU
Nvidia reveals Vera, a new CPU with 'custom' cores which could be very exciting for its upcoming premium PC processor
Machinery tools and equipment,Rolls of galvanized steel for production metal pipes and tubes for industrial ventilation systems in factory.
New super-thin '2D' metal sheets could enable ultra-low power chips and can you guess how they're made? Yup, by squishing stuff really hard
Latest in News
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event