{
  "id": 404324,
  "title": "MIT researchers found a new Spectre attack that can slip past Intel and AMD defenses",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/mit-researchers-found-a-new-spectre-attack-that-can-slip-past-intel",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-09T20:03:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Digital Trends",
    "slug": "digital-trends",
    "url": "https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/mit-tontou-spectre-attack-intel-amd-cpus/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Intel and AMD processors have long been vulnerable to Spectre attacks since 2018. A team of MIT researchers, Daniel Trujillo and Mengjia Yan, have discovered a new method called TONTOU that can bypass existing defenses. TONTOU exploits a brief window between when a processor's branch predictor is neutralized and when it is used again. This gap allows the attack to inject a timing-based interrupt, poisoning the predictor and potentially leaking information. The researchers tested TONTOU on Intel Cascade Lake Refresh, Arrow Lake, AMD Zen 2, and Zen 4 processors. They were able to trigger branch mispredictions on all tested platforms. While the attack isn't a fast threat, a complete end-to-end exploit was successful on an AMD Zen 2 system, leaking sensitive data. AMD released a patch, but Intel stated they don't plan additional mitigations. The attack highlights that even well-designed defenses can have tiny vulnerabilities, leaving the Spectre issue unresolved for many users.",
  "summary": "MIT researchers have discovered TONTOU, a new Spectre-style attack that can bypass defenses on recent Intel and AMD CPUs by exploiting a tiny timing window.",
  "key_points": [
    "MIT researchers discovered TONTOU attack bypassing Intel, AMD defenses",
    "Exploits timing window between branch predictor neutralization",
    "Leaked sensitive data on AMD Zen 2 system"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}