Intel Disables DirectX 12 On Older Processors Due To Security Vulnerability

Intel has disabled DirectX 12 API support in the latest graphics drivers for its Haswell processors because of a security vulnerability.

Intel has disabled DirectX 12 API support in the latest graphics drivers for its 4th-generation Core processors because of a security vulnerability. Codenamed ‘Haswell,’ the 4th-generation Core processors were originally released in 2013 as successor to the company’s Ivy Bridge CPUs released in 2012. The Haswell processors are getting a little long in the tooth but remain in circulation on both desktops and laptops worldwide.

News about the latest security flaw comes at a time when Intel is yet to fully recover from the impact of the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities that were originally detailed in 2018 and affected several generations of the company’s processors. Earlier this year, researchers found a new Load Value Injection threat affecting Intel CPUs. Based on Meltdown and Spectre, the exploit takes advantage of a flaw in the speculative execution of modern processors.

Related: Intel May Be Already Working On Its 4th All-New Arc GPU, Leak Suggests

Intel has announced that it is disabling support for DX 12 in its latest graphics drivers for Haswell processors because of a security vulnerability that could allow escalation of privilege on these CPUs. In order to mitigate the issue, the company has released a software update that would disable DX 12 support in these chips for driver version 15.40.44.5107. This means that people using the integrated graphics in these processors will be unable to run DX 12 applications if they have the latest drivers installed. Intel is advising users to downgrade to driver version 15.40.42.5063 or older if they want to run DirectX 12 applications on the built-in GPUs of their Haswell systems.

Non-Haswell Processors Are Not Affected

The chips affected by the vulnerability include 4th-generation Core processors with Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200, Iris Graphics 5100, and Intel HD Graphics 5000/4600/4400/4200. Intel Pentium and Celeron Processors with Intel HD Graphics based on 4th-generation Intel Core are also affected by the flaw, the company said. As noted by Tom’s Hardware, all the affected GPUs are based on Intel’s Gen7 architecture but none of the Ivy Bridge chips seem to be affected by the problem even though the same architecture is also used in those chips.

Even as Intel is plugging security vulnerabilities in its old processors, the company is busy launching new processors for the enthusiast market. Late last month, Intel launched its Alder Lake CPUs that include the top-of-the-line Core i9-12900K, which will be the successor to the Core i9-11900K released earlier this year. The company is also prepping its upcoming Arc Alchemist GPU lineup that is set to be launched early next year and is expected to offer the first real competition to NVIDIA and AMD.

Next: Intel’s Arc Alchemist GPU Performance Specs Are Impressive

Source: Intel

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