After Intel announced last week that it had developed new firmware updates to help patch Meltdown and Spectre on recent processors, Microsoft now plans to do its part to make these microcode updates more broadly available.
Today, the company announced that it’s making Intel’s security updates for Skylake devices running the Fall Creators Update available to download through the Microsoft Update Catalog. The standalone packages for these “KB4090007” Intel microcode updates are available on this page. “We will offer additional microcode updates from Intel as they become available to Microsoft,” the company said today.
Windows PCs require both software and firmware updates to be protected against the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. While Microsoft already did release security updates for all modern versions of Windows, patching all modern CPUs will take some time and require some teamwork between Microsoft, chip makers PC OEMs and even AV vendors.
“We continue to work with industry partners on further mitigations and tools to help protect against the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities,” Microsoft explained today. Consumers looking to know more about how to protect their devices can check Microsoft’s Windows customer guidance article, which will be updated when new mitigations become available.
Further reading: firmware update, Intel, Meltdown, Microsoft, Skylake, Spectre
