Preface: Page prefetching is a technique used to improve performance by preloading data into the cache before it’s actually needed. However, the implementation and presence of a page prefetcher can vary depending on the CPU architecture and design.

Background: A page prefetcher attack is a type of side-channel attack that exploits the page prefetching mechanism in modern CPUs. Page prefetching is a performance optimization technique where the CPU predicts and loads pages of memory into the cache before they are actually needed. This can inadvertently create security vulnerabilities.

In a page prefetcher attack, an attacker can infer sensitive information by observing the patterns and timing of page prefetching operations. For example, the attacker might be able to determine which memory pages are being accessed by the victim, thereby gaining insights into the victim’s activities or extracting sensitive data.

About the topic: Researchers have disclosed to AMD a potential exploit, the page prefetcher attack (PPA), a prefetcher-based side-channel attack.

Manufacturer response: AMD has evaluated the paper and does not believe there are any new security implications. Please refer to the link – https://www.amd.com/en/resources/product-security/bulletin/amd-sb-7040.html