Those computers that have Intel Skylake U or Intel Kaby Lake U processors suffer from a serious vulnerability in USB debugging that allows the installation of all types of malware.

Researchers at Positive Technologies have published that both Intel Skylake U and Intel Kaby Lake U processors have a very significant vulnerability regarding USB debugging, which would allow attacks to be carried out on systems. What this vulnerability allows to those who want to perform an arc of these characteristics is to circumvent the security mechanisms using a vulnerability in the debugging interface that will allow the installation of malicious code, the modification of the firmware and even completely rewrite the BIOS.

According to the investigation, this flaw would be present in any Skylake processor that has a debugging interface accessible via USB 3.0. Security flaws exist every day and in many devices, but the big problem with this security hole is that it is completely undetectable by the security utilities that exist today, so we could have this problem and not know it.

Long ago, debugging was carried out by means of a special device, which made use of a specialized debugging port inside the motherboard, with a special connector, but since Skylake a direct contact interface is used that allows access to the JTAG ( Joint Test Action Group), through the USB 3.0 port.

We would be facing a possible new wave of attacks through 'BadUSB', which would no longer be only in the corruption of the systems, it would also be used to infect them with malware, espionage tools and any other malware that you want to use to infect systems . Intel is already aware of this security flaw, since the company Positive Technologies has informed them of this flaw, although at the moment any computer with an Intel Skylake U or Intel Kaby Lake U processor is vulnerable, whatever its operating system or the security software you use.

Source: overclock3d