You are viewing a previous version of this security bulletin. For the most current version please visit: "Processor Speculative Execution Research Disclosure".
Update As Of: 2017/01/04 15:30 PST
This is an update to this issue.
Amazon EC2
All instances across the Amazon EC2 fleet are protected from all known threat vectors from the CVEs previously listed. Customers’ instances are protected against these threats from other instances. We have not observed meaningful performance impact for the overwhelming majority of EC2 workloads.
Recommended Customer Actions for AWS Batch, Amazon EC2, Amazon Elastic Beanstalk, Amazon Elastic Container Service, Amazon Elastic MapReduce, and Amazon Lightsail
While all customer instances are protected, we recommend that customers patch their instance operating systems. This will strengthen the protections that these operating systems provide to isolate software running within the same instance. For more details, refer to specific vendor guidance on patch availability and deployment.
Specific vendor guidance:
- Amazon Linux - More details are below.
- Microsoft Windows - https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/ADV180002
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux - https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/speculativeexecution
- SuSE Linux - https://www.suse.com/c/suse-addresses-meltdown-spectre-vulnerabilities
For operating systems not listed, customers should consult with their operating system or AMI vendor for updates and instructions.
Updates to other AWS services
Amazon Linux AMI (Bulletin ID: ALAS-2018-939)
An updated kernel for Amazon Linux is available within the Amazon Linux repositories. EC2 instances launched with the default Amazon Linux configuration on or after 10:45 PM (GMT) January 3rd, 2018 will automatically include the updated package. Customers with existing Amazon Linux AMI instances should run the following command to ensure they receive the updated package:
sudo yum update kernel
After the yum update is complete, a reboot is required for updates to take effect.
More information on this bulletin is available at the Amazon Linux AMI Security Center.
EC2 Windows
We are updating the default Windows Server AMI and we will update this bulletin when it is available.
Amazon FreeRTOS
There are no updates required for or applicable to Amazon FreeRTOS and its supported ARM processors.
AWS Lambda
All instances running Lambda functions have been patched as described above and no customer action is required.
VMware Cloud on AWS
Please refer to the VMware security advisory here for more details: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2018-0002.html
WorkSpaces
AWS will apply security updates released by Microsoft to most AWS WorkSpaces over the coming weekend. Customers should expect their WorkSpaces to reboot during this period.
Bring Your Own License (BYOL) customers, and customers who have changed the default update setting in their WorkSpaces should manually apply the security updates provided by Microsoft.
Please follow the instructions provided by Microsoft security advisory at https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/ADV180002. The security advisory includes links to knowledge base articles for both Windows Server and Client operating systems that provide further specific information.
Updated WorkSpaces bundles will be available with the security updates soon. Customers who have created Custom Bundles should update their bundles to include the security updates themselves. Any new WorkSpaces launched from bundles that do not have the updates will receive patches soon after launch, unless customers have changed the default update setting in their WorkSpaces, in which case they should follow the above steps to manually apply the security updates provided by Microsoft.
WorkSpaces Application Manager (WAM)
We recommend that customers choose one of the following courses of action:
Option 1: Manually apply the Microsoft patches on running instances of WAM Packager and Validator by following the steps provided by Microsoft at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4072698/windows-server-guidance-to-protect-against-the-speculative-execution. This page provides further instructions and downloads for Windows Server.
Option 2: Rebuild new WAM Packager and Validator EC2 instances from updated AMIs for WAM Packager and Validator which will be available by end of day (2018/01/04).