An unknown person allegedly leaked the source code for Intel’s Alder Lake BIOS to 4chan, and a duplicate copy appears to have been posted on GitHub. The files are contained in a 2.8 GB zip file that after unzipping he expands to 5.86 GB, but we have not been able to verify that the contents are authentic and that they actually contain sensitive source code. .
News of the rumored leak comes through a Twitter post. @glowingfreak When @vxundergroundWe’ve reached out to Intel for comment.
Intel Alder Lake source code leaked online. * Alder Lake CPU released on 4th November 2021 * Source code is 2.8GB (compressed) * (Suspicious) leak from 4chan * I haven’t checked the entire code base, it’s hugeOctober 8, 2022
This file appears to contain a number of files and tools for building BIOS/UEFI for Intel’s Alder Lake platforms and chipsets. It’s unclear where the leaker got the files, but one of the documents mentions “Lenovo Feature Tag Test Information.”a some other clues Also came out from git log.
Even if the files prove to contain sensitive information, it’s unclear if they could be used to develop exploits. Especially if you got it from a non-Intel source. It’s easy to imagine that most motherboard vendors and his OEMs have similar tools and information available for building firmware for Intel platforms. Intel may scrub overly sensitive material before releasing it to external vendors. That said, sensitive information in the hands of malicious actors is never a good thing, and small pieces of information can lead to large vulnerabilities. The case is even more so.
We don’t know how the files got there, but recent hacks target outside vendors to indirectly steal information from semiconductor manufacturers to enable ransom attempts.
A recent flurry of attacks includes RansomHouse’s attempt to extort AMD after AMD obtained 56 GB of data. AMD’s partner Gigabyte also had his 112 GB of sensitive data stolen in the infamous “Gigabyte Hack”, but AMD refused to pay the ransom for the latter hack. As a result, information about AMD’s upcoming Zen 4 processor was leaked before its launch and later proved to be genuine.
Nvidia was also recently attacked and 1TB of data was stolen, but the GPU-manufacturing giant has retaliated with a unique operation that renders the stolen data useless.
We don’t know the details of the rumored Intel leak, but we’re working on getting more from the company.
