Direct download links for KB4078130 is available for Windows 10, 8.1 and 7 operating systems. Windows 10 KB4078130 offline installer can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Update Catalog and the update removes the Spectre Variant 2 vulnerability which was causing random reboots on some PCs powered by Intel processor.
Today’s update i.e KB4078130 is available for all supported versions of Windows operating system and it can be only downloaded from Microsoft’s Update Catalog. Intel last week announced that the company is working on a firmware update which would restore the performance of impacted PCs.
KB4078130 Download Links for Windows 10
Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 KB4078130 Direct Download Links: 32 and 64-bit.
What did Intel say?
Intel says that almost all older computers running high-demanding tasks such as Photoshop will experience a noticeable slowdown. Not only the older PCs, even the hardware with the latest Intel chipsets will experience a minor performance impact, however, the average user should not notice any major software glitch.
The good news is that the chip maker Intel has managed to identify the problem and they are working on a microcode firmware update that will also mitigate the Spectre security flaw but the performance wouldn’t take a hit. Intel hasn’t disclosed the root cause of the reboot issues, the company has only admitted that the patch affects the performance of Broadwell, Haswell and even the newest processors.
The Spectre update was actually supposed to fix the vulnerability, but as the update was rolled out all of a sudden, it caused more harm than good. In the coming weeks, Intel will issue a new firmware update to address the performance issues. In the meantime, the firm is recommending the OEMs and OS vendors to pull the patch immediately. Intel is testing the new update on all processor to ensure that no performance and reboot issues occur in the patched systems.
“We have now identified the root cause for Broadwell and Haswell platforms, and made good progress in developing a solution to address it,” Intel said in a press release. “Over the weekend, we began rolling out an early version of the updated solution to industry partners for testing, and we will make a final release available once that testing has been completed,” Navin Shenoy added.
Despite the industry has worked together to address the vulnerabilities while keeping the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerability a secret, they have failed to ensure a bug-free experience.
What is Microsoft doing?
Microsoft is today rolling out a small update for all versions of Windows including the old Windows 7 operating system with a fix for performance issue. Since the reboot issues on PCs powered by Intel triggered a negative reaction from the rest of the industry, Microsoft and Intel are releasing updates to rollback the Spectre Variant 2 security patch. The software giant has explained that the Spectre Variant 2 affects all versions of the operating system, but the company is not aware of any exploitation attempts or attacks.
“While Intel tests, updates and deploys new microcode, we are making available an out of band update today, KB4078130, that specifically disables only the mitigation against CVE-2017-5715 – ‘Branch target injection vulnerability. As of January 25, there are no known reports to indicate that this Spectre variant 2 (CVE 2017-5715 ) has been used to attack customers. We recommend Windows customers, when appropriate, reenable the mitigation against CVE-2017-5715 when Intel reports that this unpredictable system behaviour has been resolved for your device,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
Microsoft is working with Intel to deliver the update next month which would not only fix the vulnerability but also restore the performance of the system.
