Sandsifter: find undocumented instructions and bugs on x86 CPU
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderThis is great. That a program can learn about and exploit the CPU on which it is running from unprivileged userspace reminds me of the notion in Charlie Stross' Accelerando of running a timing attack against the universe to learn about the virtual machine in which we are being simulated.
Reveal talk at Blackhat showing this off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrksBdWcZgQ
Hey my friend, I'll be confident with u... executing that kind of stuff without being aware what it does really is really a bad move... So to run it it needs a study... and then you decide if you will run it... Okay... to be a lil more confident with you... am not sure everythings happens into the processor unit... but that's cool it decorates your shell :)
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 560
- Total comments
- 109
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-07-28 | Sandsifter: find undocumented instructions and bugs on x86 CPUFirst breakout · Best thread | argorain | 447 | 91 |
| 2018-10-09 | Sandsifter: x86 processor fuzzerLatest 20+ point return | bellinom | 105 | 17 |
| 2021-04-24 | Sandsifter – The x86 Processor Fuzzer | pabs3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2023-10-23 | Sandsifter: The x86 Processor Fuzzer | guerrilla | 2 | 0 |
| 2024-10-25 | sandsifter – The x86 Processor Fuzzer | pabs3 | 1 | 0 |