Bug 1712624 (CVE-2019-9815)

Summary:	CVE-2019-9815 Mozilla: Disable hyperthreading on content JavaScript threads on macOS
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	Doran Moppert <dmoppert>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Red Hat Product Security <security-response-team>
Status:	CLOSED NOTABUG	QA Contact:
Severity:	high	Docs Contact:
Priority:	high
Version:	unspecified	CC:	cschalle, gecko-bugs-nobody, jhorak, security-response-team, stransky
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	No Doc Update
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:	2019-05-22 07:38:24 UTC	Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:
Bug Depends On:
Bug Blocks:	1709216, 1714079

Description Doran Moppert 2019-05-22 01:46:37 UTC

If hyperthreading is not disabled, a timing attack vulnerability exists, similar to previous Spectre attacks. Apple has shipped macOS 10.14.5 with an option to disable hyperthreading in applications running untrusted code in a thread through a new sysctl. Firefox now makes use of it on the main thread and any worker threads. 

*Note: users need to update to macOS 10.14.5 in order to take advantage of this change.*



External Reference:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2019-14/#CVE-2019-9815

Comment 1 Doran Moppert 2019-05-22 01:46:39 UTC

Acknowledgments:

Name: the Mozilla project
Upstream: Multiple independent researchers