Comment on Introducing Ring -3 Rootkits: BIOS rootkit targeting vPro chipsets (2009) [pdf]parentComments−userbinator12yNot all Intel chipsets have vPro/ME.E.g. this one doesn't:http://ark.intel.com/products/64015/Intel-BD82X79-PCH(Whether they actually do have the silicon and are just disabled somehow and could be enabled/not is a different issue, however...)−pgeorgi12yTo check, I downloaded Asrock X79 Extreme4's BIOS update and looked into it. It contains 2MB of ME firmware.That's definitely not the vPro enabled version (which uses about 5MB), but approximately matches the regular non-vPro versions in size.Maybe the "ME firmware N/A" field is meant to mean "don't bother, we don't want you to configure it"?edit: updated with information from another bios update that isn't a diff
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Not all Intel chipsets have vPro/ME.
E.g. this one doesn't:
http://ark.intel.com/products/64015/Intel-BD82X79-PCH
(Whether they actually do have the silicon and are just disabled somehow and could be enabled/not is a different issue, however...)
To check, I downloaded Asrock X79 Extreme4's BIOS update and looked into it. It contains 2MB of ME firmware.
That's definitely not the vPro enabled version (which uses about 5MB), but approximately matches the regular non-vPro versions in size.
Maybe the "ME firmware N/A" field is meant to mean "don't bother, we don't want you to configure it"?
edit: updated with information from another bios update that isn't a diff