Breaking the x86 Instruction Set

Explore the hidden world of x86 processors in this Black Hat conference talk. Delve into the secrets and vulnerabilities of modern chipsets through innovative techniques like page fault analysis and processor fuzzing. Learn how to exhaustively search the x86 instruction set, uncovering hidden instructions and hardware bugs. Discover the process of auditing processors, overcoming challenges, and utilizing tools like The Injector and The Sifter. Examine findings on hidden instructions in Intel and AMD processors, software bugs in development tools, hypervisor issues, and hardware bugs across various chip manufacturers. Gain insights into the complexities and potential security implications of x86 architecture in this comprehensive exploration of processor vulnerabilities.

Intro
Trust.
Goal: Audit the Processor
The challenge
Tunneling
Instruction lengths
Page fault analysis
The Injector
Surviving
The Sifter
Sifting
Scanning
Intel hidden instructions
AMD hidden instructions
Software bugs (VS)
Software bugs (objdump)
Azure hypervisor bugs
Intel hardware bugs
AMD hardware bugs
Transmeta hardware bugs
Conclusions