FetchBench - Issue with Prefetchers in Arm Processors

Scope: AWS
Content Type: Important (requires attention)
Publication Date: 2023/11/26 6:00 AM PST

AWS is aware of a research paper describing an issue ("FetchBench") affecting the prefetchers in Arm processors. AWS customers’ data and instances are not impacted by this issue , and no customer action is required. AWS has designed and implemented its infrastructure with protections against these types of issues. The research paper proof-of-concept demonstrates the concern of using out-of-date cryptographic software known to be affected by timing-related side-channels. As a general security best practice, we recommend customers use modern up-to-date cryptographic libraries, such as AWS Libcrypto (AWS-LC) or OpenSSL, which account for and mitigate timing-related side-channel concerns through time-balancing countermeasures.

Security-related questions or concerns can be brought to our attention via aws-security@amazon.com .