| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to vulnerabilities in AMD chips, specifically the Ryzenfall, Masterkey, Fallout, and Chimera attacks, has happened at AMD again. The vulnerabilities discovered by the CTS researchers targeted AMD's Zen architecture chips, highlighting flaws in the Secure Processor and a backdoor in the chipset used by AMD. This incident raises concerns about the security of AMD's products and the potential risks posed by these vulnerabilities [69241].
(b) The software failure incident related to vulnerabilities in AMD chips has not been reported to have happened at other organizations or with their products and services in the provided articles. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the article where Israeli researchers outlined vulnerabilities in AMD chips, specifically in the processor architecture designed by AMD. The vulnerabilities discovered by the researchers allowed attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant malware that evades detection, and engage in virtually undetectable espionage [69241].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is evident in the article where the CTS researchers shared their findings with AMD only a day before going public, which blindsided the company. This short disclosure window did not give AMD enough time to address the issues, which is typically required to mitigate vulnerabilities introduced during the operation of the system [69241]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident described in the articles is primarily within the system. The vulnerabilities and flaws identified by the CTS researchers in AMD's Zen architecture chips, such as Ryzenfall, Masterkey, Fallout, and Chimera, are internal to the processor architecture designed by AMD [69241]. These vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant malware, and engage in espionage within the computer system, indicating that the failure originates from within the system itself. Additionally, the exploitation of a backdoor in the chipset used by AMD further emphasizes that the issues are internal to the hardware design [69241].
(b) The software failure incident does not seem to be primarily due to contributing factors that originate from outside the system. The vulnerabilities identified by the CTS researchers are related to the design and architecture of AMD chips, rather than external factors such as external attacks or environmental issues [69241]. The flaws and backdoor exploited by the researchers were inherent to the hardware design and not introduced by external entities. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
The software failure incident in this case was primarily due to vulnerabilities in AMD's Zen architecture chips, specifically in the processor architecture designed by AMD. The vulnerabilities, named Ryzenfall, Masterkey, Fallout, and Chimera, were identified by a group of Israeli researchers from CTS Labs. These vulnerabilities allowed attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant malware that evades detection, and engage in persistent, virtually undetectable espionage on computers running AMD chips [69241].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
The failure in this case can be attributed to the actions of the CTS researchers who disclosed the vulnerabilities to AMD only a day before going public, which is considered an unusual move in the security community. The timing of disclosure, lack of technical details in the paper, and potential financial motivations raised concerns about the motives and actions of the researchers. The manner in which the vulnerabilities were disclosed and the potential impact on AMD's stock price led to questions about the credibility and intentions of the researchers [69241]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware, software |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily related to hardware vulnerabilities in AMD chips. The vulnerabilities identified by the Israeli researchers in AMD's Zen architecture chips, named Ryzenfall, Masterkey, Fallout, and Chimera, exploit security vulnerabilities in AMD's Secure Processor and a backdoor in a chipset used for peripheral devices [69241].
(b) The software failure incident also involves software vulnerabilities as the identified flaws in AMD's chips could potentially allow attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant malware, and engage in persistent, virtually undetectable espionage on computers running AMD's "Zen" processor architecture [69241]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in the articles is malicious in nature. The incident involves a group of researchers from CTS Labs outlining vulnerabilities in AMD chips that could potentially allow attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant undetectable malware, engage in espionage, and persist even after reinstallation of the operating system. The researchers shared their findings with AMD only a day before going public, raising concerns about their motives and the timing of disclosure. Additionally, the researchers included a disclaimer on their website indicating a potential economic interest in the performance of the companies implicated in their reports, leading to suspicions about their intentions [69241]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident:
The software failure incident related to the AMD chip vulnerabilities outlined by the Israeli researchers and disclosed by CTS Labs could be seen as a case of poor_decisions. This is because the researchers shared their findings with AMD only a day before going public, which is considered an unusually short disclosure window in the security industry. Additionally, the lack of technical details provided in the disclosure and the potential economic interest of CTS Labs in the performance of the companies implicated in their reports raised concerns about the motives behind the disclosure [69241]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident in the articles can be attributed to development incompetence. The incident involved a group of Israeli researchers outlining vulnerabilities in AMD chips, which could allow attackers to bypass security safeguards and plant undetectable malware [69241]. The researchers faced questions about the hype surrounding their findings, the timing of disclosure to AMD, and potential financial motivations for their work. Additionally, the disclosure of the vulnerabilities to AMD was done only a day before going public, which is considered an unusual move in the industry, as the typical disclosure window lasts for months to allow affected manufacturers to address the issues. The lack of technical details provided by the researchers also raised concerns about the verifiability of their claims [69241].
(b) The software failure incident can also be considered accidental to some extent. The researchers shared their findings with AMD only a day before going public, practically blindsiding the company. This sudden disclosure without giving AMD enough time to address the issues can be seen as an accidental aspect of the incident, as it deviated from the standard practice of allowing affected manufacturers sufficient time to respond to vulnerabilities before public disclosure [69241]. |
| Duration |
permanent, temporary |
(a) The software failure incident related to the vulnerabilities in AMD's Zen architecture chips, as outlined by the Israeli researchers, can be considered as a permanent failure. The vulnerabilities identified by the researchers, such as Ryzenfall, Masterkey, Fallout, and Chimera, are deep-seated flaws in the core of the computer hardware, specifically in the processor architecture designed by AMD. These vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant malware that evades detection, and engage in persistent, virtually undetectable espionage. The backdoor discovered in the chipset used by AMD may be impossible to fix with a mere software patch, potentially requiring the replacement of the hardware itself [69241].
(b) On the other hand, the software failure incident can also be seen as a temporary failure in terms of the disclosure and impact timeline. The Israeli researchers shared their findings with AMD only a day before going public, which is an unusually short disclosure window. This rapid disclosure raised concerns in the security community about responsible disclosure practices and the potential impact of the vulnerabilities. The quick turnaround from discovery to public disclosure created a sense of urgency and uncertainty regarding the extent of the vulnerabilities and the necessary mitigation steps. AMD stated that they are investigating the report to understand the methodology and merit of the findings, indicating a temporary phase of assessment and response to the disclosed vulnerabilities [69241]. |
| Behaviour |
omission, timing, value, other |
(a) crash: The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions.
(b) omission: The software failure incident related to the AMD vulnerabilities discovered by CTS Labs could be categorized as an omission failure. The vulnerabilities allowed attackers to bypass security safeguards, plant malware, and engage in espionage, indicating that the system omitted to perform its intended function of protecting the computer's operating system and data [69241].
(c) timing: The timing of the software failure incident is related to the disclosure of the vulnerabilities by CTS Labs to AMD. The articles mention that CTS Labs shared their findings with AMD only a day before going public, which is considered an unusual and short disclosure window. Typically, affected manufacturers are given months to address such issues, indicating a timing failure in the disclosure process [69241].
(d) value: The software failure incident related to the AMD vulnerabilities can be categorized as a value failure. The vulnerabilities discovered by CTS Labs allowed attackers to perform actions that compromised the security and integrity of the system, indicating that the system performed its intended functions incorrectly in terms of protecting against unauthorized access and malware attacks [69241].
(e) byzantine: The articles do not mention any software failure incident related to a byzantine behavior where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions.
(f) other: The software failure incident related to the AMD vulnerabilities could also be categorized as an "other" failure due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the disclosure, the potential financial motivations of the researchers, and the lack of technical details provided in the disclosure. These factors contribute to a unique situation that does not fit neatly into the defined categories of failure behaviors [69241]. |