Hacker GitHub

← All repos

corna/me_cleaner

View on GitHub ↗ ★ 5,071 Python

Tool for partial deblobbing of Intel ME/TXE firmware images

75 mentions on Hacker News by 55 people: 8 stories, 67 comments · first 2016-11-28 · latest 2024-12-26

Mentions per year 75 mentions · busiest year 2017 (34)
20082026
  1. No, I actually uploaded the firmware images here: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/233
  2. …for other purposes (such as recent versions of ME handling suspend-related power management) [0] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bi... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Platform_Security_Proces... [2]…
  3. Buy HW that can be flashed with coreboot? And while it won't (completely) remove SMM, https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner might get rid of some stuff. I think that's more about getting rid of spyware and ring -1 security bugs than…
  4. …There have also been efforts to delete just part of IME from the flash. A couple links: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner https://doc.coreboot.org/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/me_cl... On X200-era systems, however, you can remove IME…
    comment by neilv · 2024-05-07 · in TOTP Authenticator for PalmOS
  5. It can be de-blobbed though [1]. At least this will "de-risk" it as part of the boot process ? [1]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
  6. …By setting a bit in the flash configuration, assumed to be added for the US High Assurance program: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bi... , https://www.ptsecurity.com/ww-en/analytics/disabling-intel-m... . This is…
  7. …in them. The maintainers of the me_cleaner script likely have the clearest view of what is known. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by chasil · 2023-05-30 · in Modern CPUs have a backstage cast
  8. …to run old hardware is worth it for me. Below are the bios images that I was able to produce: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/233
    comment by chasil · 2023-03-11 · in Why I Use Old Hardware
  9. …of worms and can only be fully disabled by modifying the firmware image, see tools like me_cleaner. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
  10. …Intel ME Region Read Access is enabled Both are useful for MEBx/IME to be cleaned out or disabled. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/Internal-flashing-w... https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/Internal-flashing-w...
  11. …within the booted bios without much hassle. Looking for the link... Found it on Bing of all places! https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/233
    comment by chasil · 2022-10-26 · in Disabling the Intel Management Engine
  12. …of maybe moving to one of them, but ME Cleaner doesn't seem to have Coffee/Comet Lake covered yet. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/me_cleaner-status
  13. …https://github.com/rootkovska/x86_harmful/blob/master/x86_ha... https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/blob/master/me_cleaner.p...
    comment by Terry_Roll · 2022-01-16 · in Lenovo vendor locking Ryzen CPUs with AMD PSB
  14. …be running a broken BIOS. Intel includes no such option, but on the other hand there is stuff like https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/ . In the absense of any detailed information about how AMD'S PSP disable option actually works, I guess…
  15. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner works reasonably well for me - at least on motherboards with removable BIOS chips.
  16. …in removing the ARC firmware code from two different HP desktops (I attached both BIOS images): https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/233 These PCs are quite inexpensive. I run OpenBSD with hardened Chrome on one of them, for all of…
    comment by chasil · 2021-03-09 · in I want a computer that I own
  17. > How is it possible to secure these nested trees of computers-in-computers? https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner Or, buy hardware from vendors who neutralize ME according to the link.
  18. cough https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner cough
  19. …/libreboot.org/faq.html#amd-platform-security-process... 2. https://libreboot.org/faq.html#intelme 3. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by turblety · 2020-12-04 · in System76 – Pangolin
  20. You can overwrite most of it: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner . AFAIK such overwriting will fix the bug in your link (and this is exactly what Purism is doing).
  21. …using Libreboot because the latter gets rid of the (very early versions of) the ME completely. [1] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by boring_twenties · 2020-08-13 · in NSA Owns Everything (2015)
  22. Yes, they seem to be very similar. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bi...
  23. …sharing that. Sounds like what puri.sm are doing with their Librem ranges, with me-cleaner [1]. 1. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by turblety · 2020-06-22 · in ARM Mac Impact on Intel
  24. …here are all the constituent projects: https://coreboot.org/ https://github.com/osresearch/heads/ https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner https://github.com/nitrokey A good talk if you prefer video: https://media.ccc.de/v/33c3-8314-bootstraping…
    comment by bubblethink · 2020-01-08 · in NitroPad: Secure Laptop with Tamper Detection
  25. …and Dell sell machines with the option of disabling the ME entirely, if one is super-paranoid. [1] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner [2] https://system76.com/laptops [3] https://puri.sm/learn/intel-me/
    comment by elagost · 2019-11-15 · in Exploiting Intel’s Management Engine
  26. …Longer answer: You cannot fully disable the ME (the system won't boot) but you can use me_cleaner https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner to remove parts of the ME firmware that you don't want. "However, ... flashing back the modified [ME…
  27. …last year. I cleaned two different HP desktops at that time, and uploaded the modified BIOS here: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/233 These still suffer from Meltdown and the remediation does exact a performance penalty, but…
  28. These are the boards that I patched: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/233
    comment by chasil · 2019-01-23 · in Why I use old hardware
  29. …for new machines. For pre-Nehalem ones, you can disable it fully. You may be interested in this: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by bubblethink · 2018-11-18 · in Intel Management Engine JTAG Proof of Concept
  30. Here are some easy ways to prevent UEFI from tampering with your drive: Disable UEFI. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner Disable the ACPI hooks that register the kernel with UEFI. http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~knuto/kernel/4.14/admin-guide/kerne…
  31. …effectively disabling it during the normal operation, which is what me_cleaner tries to accomplish. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner EDIT: Also, the ME is inside the PCH, so I'm not really sure why you're making a distinction there.
  32. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/External-flashing
    comment by _emacsomancer_ · 2018-07-22 · in Intel patches new ME vulnerabilities
  33. …all ME components that are not absolutely required to operate the CPU. I have never tried it. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by chasil · 2018-07-22 · in Intel patches new ME vulnerabilities
  34. …as I understand: * In general you cannot. * You can try to remove ME with non-official tools like https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner * Some vendors ship specific laptops with ME disabled ( https://fossbytes.com/laptops-intel-me-chip-disabl…
  35. …then you've got bigger concerns than someone hacking your ME (starting with, say, your OS). [1] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/111#issuecomment-...
  36. …more details. Ultimately, the network-enabled bits that keep getting exploited are removed. [1]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by zamalek · 2017-11-30 · in System76 ME Firmware Updates Plan
  37. …ME firmware completely removed, and on newer systems, for 30 minutes before a watchdog triggers: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
  38. …sounds like the iPhone situation: upgrade to a newer iOS and lose the ability to jailbreak. [1] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bi...
  39. …ips it can be controlled from hard coded, can it be blocked via simple firewall rules? EG tool: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner List? https://github.com/ransom1538/intel_me_cleaners/
  40. …be possible to completely remove the remaining few hundred kB of Intel ME code remaining. [1]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
  41. …keys is the last thing you'll think of if a decades-old business is going up in flames. [1]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner [2]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/Intel-Boot-Guard
  42. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/How-to-apply-me_cle...
  43. …option 2 months ago. [1] http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html [2] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/commit/ced3b46ba2ccd7460...
  44. https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
  45. …flashing from userspace, but it is doable if you buy a $5 flash programmer and a Raspberry PI. [1]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner [2]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bi...
    comment by cyphar · 2017-10-13 · in Intel ME: The Way of Static Analysis
  46. …org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Techno... [2]: https://www.coreboot.org/Intel_Management_Engine [3]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner
    comment by cyphar · 2017-10-13 · in Intel ME: The Way of Static Analysis
  47. …with the Verified Boot fuses set (i.e. pretty much any recent laptop) to fail to boot[2]. [2] https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/53#issuecomment-3...
    comment by platinumrad · 2017-10-10 · in Disabling the Intel Management Engine
  48. I think they already did: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/Intel-Boot-Guard
    comment by laurentdc · 2017-10-10 · in Disabling the Intel Management Engine
  49. I found the relevant flags: --soft-disable-only and --soft-disable https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/commit/d5705b62f802fdf1c...
  50. You can do this fairly easily with me_cleaner[1] which also does a lot of other disarming of ME. [1]: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner