A new vulnerability within the M-series Apple chips allows hackers to obtain encryption keys, as per an ArsTechnica-submitted academic research paper.
The cyber attack, titled ‘GoFetch’ is a threat involving Data Memory-Dependent Prefetchers to predict data from the computer and capture it ahead of time. While processing may be quicker this way, this gives out a clue about what the computer is doing. DMPs in M-Series chips pose a threat to security through the constant-time programming for programs that take the same time regardless of data.
The programming mode serves as protection versus side-channel attacks, but the paper revealed that DMPs can potentially leak information and that GoFetch can exploit the vulnerability to obtain encryption keys from software. The paper further said that it works against popular encryption platforms such as CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Go RSA, and Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange. Apple did not comment on the paper when asked by ArsTechnica.
