1. Gaining kernel code execution on an MTE-enabled Pixel 8
Total comment counts : 8
Summary
The article discusses a vulnerability, CVE-2023-6241, in the Arm Mali GPU that allows a malicious app to gain arbitrary kernel code execution and root access on an Android phone. The vulnerability affects devices with newer Arm Mali GPUs, such as Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 phones. The article explains that this vulnerability is a logic bug in the memory management unit of the GPU and is capable of bypassing the Memory Tagging Extension (MTE), a powerful mitigation against memory corruption. The author demonstrates how this bug can be used to gain arbitrary kernel code execution on the Pixel 8 from an untrusted user application, even with MTE enabled. The article also provides an overview of MTE and its significance as a mitigation for memory corruption. It explains that MTE uses unused bits in memory addresses to store tags, which can be checked for memory corruption. However, the article notes that MTE has limitations, such as the possibility of tag collisions, which may still allow corrupted memory access to succeed.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article discusses the challenges associated with the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) on Android devices. The GPU has been a problem because it has direct access to the Application Processor (AP) and can bypass any security measures in place. There have been numerous bugs in the driver’s mapping code, which have been exploited in real-world attacks. The author believes that significant changes must be made to the architecture in order to address these issues.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article describes a logic bug in the memory management unit of the Arm Mali GPU, which is capable of bypassing the Memory Tagging Extension (MTE). The bug is actually caused by a race condition, and the use-after-free issue is a consequence of it.
2. Garnet – A new remote cache-store from Microsoft Research
Total comment counts : 15
Summary
The article discusses Garnet, a remote cache-store developed by Microsoft Research. It highlights the features and benefits of Garnet, including strong performance, scalability, storage, recovery, cluster sharding, key migration, and replication. Garnet can work with existing Redis clients and supports a wide range of APIs for different types of operations. It also utilizes a fast and pluggable network layer and secure transport layer security (TLS) communications. The storage layer, called Tsavorite, offers various database features such as thread scalability, tiered storage support, checkpointing, and multi-key transaction support. Garnet also supports a cluster mode with sharding, replication, and dynamic key migration. The article provides an overview of Garnet’s architecture and its storage design. It concludes by mentioning the project’s license and privacy information, as well as welcoming contributions and adhering to the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct.
Top 1 Comment Summary
According to the benchmark performance charts, the throughput of the GET command in Garnet exceeds that of Dragonfly by more than ten times. Although Garnet has slightly higher 50% latency compared to Dragonfly, its 99th percentile is slightly lower. Both Garnet and Dragonfly outperform Redis in terms of throughput and latency, suggesting that Redis may need performance optimization.
Top 2 Comment Summary
Garnet’s storage layer, Tsavorite, is a fork of OSS FASTER. It offers various database features including thread scalability, tiered storage support, fast non-blocking checkpointing, recovery, operation logging, multi-key transaction support, and improved memory management.
3. 20 Years of “Not Even Wrong”
Total comment counts : 20
Summary
The author reflects on the 20th anniversary of their blog, which was started during a time when blogging about fundamental physics was popular. However, most of the other blogs from that time have become dormant, with a few physicists, like Sabine Hossenfelder and Sean Carroll, transitioning to video content. The author expresses their confusion about discussing complex theoretical physics topics on Twitter, which they believe is flooded with random stupidity. The author believes that their writings from 20 years ago have held up well, despite some changes in their viewpoint. They mention that the failure to let go of speculative ideas has harmed the field of fundamental theory, and the difficulty in reaching higher energy scales makes it unlikely they will witness significant new data in their lifetime. The author criticizes the lack of progress in the subject for almost 50 years and expresses their elitist belief that only individuals with exceptional talent and proper training can make significant advancements in difficult problems. The author reflects on their experience as a student at elite institutions and believes that 40 years of training students in a failed research program have had a negative impact on the field. The author discusses incidents that contributed to their loss of faith in the institutions, including a program and a publicity stunt that they found disturbing. Despite the depressing state of the wider world and the subject they care about, the author states that their personal circumstances are going well and they remain optimistic.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author tried out for a group that worked on the CMS detector at the LHC, but found it to be toxic. The advisor put pressure on a grad student during a meeting, and the group’s search for SUSY particles yielded a disappointing result. The author ultimately chose to join a smaller group focusing on computational laser-plasma physics instead. After 10 years, the author has no regrets about their decision and is satisfied with the higher pay and their observations of attosecond researchers winning a Nobel Prize.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights that the standard model of physics is incomplete as it does not provide information about the mass term of the neutrino. The absence of the right-handed neutrino is seen as a potential candidate for the “dark matter” particle. This is considered a missing piece of the standard model rather than physics beyond it. The author suggests that the neutrino holds secrets that could explain the missing mass and the asymmetry between matter and antimatter.
4. BootLogo: Logo language in 508 bytes of x86 machine code
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article is about a small interpreter of the Logo language. It is compatible with the 8088 processor and works on CGA mode. The interpreter can be assembled using the Netwide Assembler (NASM). The article provides instructions for testing the interpreter on VirtualBox, DOSBox, and QEMU. It also lists the available commands and provides examples of programs that can be written in the Logo language. Additionally, the article mentions a book called “Programming Boot Sector Games” that contains a crash course on 8086/8088 assembler.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article is about someone who is working on getting bootsector code to function properly on real hardware. They mention that there are reserved memory areas and state bits that need to be included for proper reset functionality. The author provides a link to their own bootsector code on GitHub and suggests that some parts, such as sector loading code and error printing, can potentially be removed.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions a code snippet that sets the video mode to VGA 320x200x256 colors. It also comments on the use of fixed-point sin table and the nostalgia it brings, as it is compiled into a .com format, reminiscent of the year 1994.
5. How do neural networks learn?
Total comment counts : 17
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article questions the value in using approximate hill climbing methods to minimize a loss function involving matrices or tensors. They suggest that understanding the fundamentals of optimization, such as algorithms like Newton-Krylov, is more important than trying to uncover any mysterious properties in deep learning.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author is questioning what would be required for researchers to reach a conclusive answer to the question of how neural networks work. Despite the abundance of papers claiming to have the answer, the author suggests that there is no consensus or satisfactory resolution. Each paper takes a different approach based on the researchers’ existing work. The author wonders if it would be useful to organize a multi-disciplinary conference to address open questions in machine learning and eliminate the perception that neural networks are “black boxes.”
6. How Ultrasound Became Ultra Small
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author owns the first generation of the Butterfly ultrasound probe and believes that its image quality is not as good as traditional crystal-based probes. They hope that the newer probes mentioned in the article are comparable to crystal-based ones but cannot comment on that. The author emphasizes that image quality is crucial and mentions the potential of AI-based applications in ultrasound. They indicate that while machine vision tools can automate measurements on echo images, they struggle with poor quality imaging, whereas humans can still interpret them. The author speculates that future training sets for AI could include more technically difficult studies or degraded versions of images to improve performance on suboptimal images. They would find AI that works on suboptimal images particularly useful in their setting, the ICU.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses an initiative called Echopen, which is an open-source project incubated by hospitals in Paris. The author mentions being an early contributor to the project.
7. Dead Air on the Incident Call
Total comment counts : 17
Summary
The article discusses the role of an incident commander in troubleshooting high-impact software failures. It emphasizes the importance of addressing silence during the incident and keeping the problem-solving effort moving forward. Several incident scenarios are presented to illustrate this point. In each scenario, the incident commander interrupts the silence by drawing more information from the relevant team members and encouraging conversations to uncover more evidence and insights. The article highlights the need for effective communication and collaboration to resolve software failures efficiently.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the need for a shared document when there are more than 10 people working together. This document should be continuously updated by a designated scribe and highlight the current state of the joint diagnostic effort. The author recommends using clinical troubleshooting, which involves identifying symptoms, forming hypotheses, and taking actions. They also mention the usefulness of including a “Needs” section in the document, as it allows for immediate involvement of new team members who join later.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is about the frustration the author feels when incident commanders interpret silence as inaction or ineffective action. The author wishes for a discussion on the value of “dead air” and the importance of taking time to think and analyze complex scenarios. They express their frustration and explain that they now remove their headset to avoid distractions when they need to focus.
8. Engima Breaker in Rust
Total comment counts : 5
Summary
The article discusses the implementation of the Enigma machine in the programming language Rust. The implementation, called “ultra,” can encrypt and decrypt messages using the Enigma machine. It explains how to install ultra and provides examples of encrypting and decrypting messages using specific settings. The decryption process relies on frequency analysis and may not be accurate for short messages. The project is licensed under the MIT License.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the Enigma machine, specifically an M3 model without UKW-D, 3 rotors, and a plugboard. The author mentions that there are more rotors known and discusses some bugs found in online enigmas. They also mention a similar machine called Fialka used by the Soviets until the 1980s. The author provides a test case that returns different results on different emulators and concludes that the University Humboldt Berlin enigma produces the correct result.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s exploration of creating a raytracer and an enigma cracker. The author shares a link to their personal website where more information can be found.
9. How to write a QML effect for KWin
Total comment counts : 9
Summary
The author discusses the challenges of implementing fancy user interface effects in C++ and explores the use of QtQuick as a solution. They explain that while basic support for implementing kwin effects in QML has been introduced in Plasma 5.24, it still requires writing some C++ code. They announce that in Plasma 6.0, they have addressed this issue and improved the declarative effect API. The author provides instructions on the project structure and installation process for creating declarative effects. They also provide a simple example of an effect that displays a “hello world” message on the screen. Lastly, they demonstrate how to display the active window using the WindowThumbnail component.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses how the use of QML, a simple programming language, enables powerful interactions, such as displaying all windows in a grid, with only 20 lines of code.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article shares their experience trying out Wayland with KDE, specifically rewriting existing xdotool scripts as KWin scripts in JavaScript. The documentation for scripts is found to be lacking, resulting in a difficult experience. However, the author managed to make it work without wasting too much time. They then explain that after upgrading to Plasma 6, KDE broke completely, forcing them to switch to XFCE.
10. The many flavors of edible ants
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article discusses a study presented at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2024 meeting about the unique aroma profiles of four species of edible ants. The researchers analyzed the odor profiles of these ants and identified the volatile compounds present in each species. They found that different ants had distinct flavors, with some having acidic and vinegary smells, while others had nutty and fatty smells. The researchers hope to further investigate the flavor profiles of more ant species and explore how different processing methods affect the flavor of these insects.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author recalls a childhood memory of discovering a tree infested with ants. They attempted to eat the ants and found them surprisingly tasty, with a sour and salty flavor. The author had heard stories that poking a branch into an anthill and licking it would result in a sour taste. They ran to show their parents but were scolded and told not to do it again. The author still remembers that ants in that part of the world have flavor and are actually tasty.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions that Chicatana ants are a special type of ant in Mexico that are considered a seasonal delicacy. They have a unique taste that is described as nutty, protein-rich, and chocolatey.