chore: release workflow: use a PR to sync source-build to master

built from source-build commit ed7f348f83
 dated 2026-07-30 12:04:02 +0000

.github/workflows/autoupdate.yml

@@ -13,18 +13,20 @@ jobs:
   autoupdate:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           ref: source
       - name: Install prerequisites
-        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends iucode-tool sqlite3 unzip
+        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends iucode-tool sqlite3 unzip shfmt
       - name: Update microcode versions
-        run: ./spectre-meltdown-checker.sh --update-builtin-fwdb
+        run: ./scripts/update_mcedb.sh
+      - name: Update Intel models
+        run: ./scripts/update_intel_models.sh
       - name: Check git diff
         id: diff
         run: |
-          echo change="$(git diff spectre-meltdown-checker.sh | awk '/MCEDB/ { if(V) { print V" to "$4; exit } else { V=$4 } }')" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo nbdiff="$(git diff spectre-meltdown-checker.sh | grep -cE -- '^\+# [AI],')" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo change="$(git diff | awk '/MCEDB/ { if(V) { print V" to "$4; exit } else { V=$4 } }')" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo nbdiff="$(git diff | grep -cE -- '^\+# [AI],')" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           git diff
           cat "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
       - name: Create Pull Request if needed

.github/workflows/build.yml

@@ -25,21 +25,81 @@ jobs:
         mv spectre-meltdown-checker.sh dist/
     - name: check direct execution
       run: |
+        set -x
         expected=$(cat .github/workflows/expected_cve_count)
         cd dist
-        nb=$(sudo ./spectre-meltdown-checker.sh --batch json | jq '.[]|.CVE' | wc -l)
+
+        json=$(sudo ./spectre-meltdown-checker.sh --batch json || true)
+
+        # Validate JSON is well-formed (and show it if not)
+        echo "$json" | jq . >/dev/null || {
+          echo "Invalid JSON produced by spectre-meltdown-checker.sh"
+          echo "$json"
+          exit 1
+        }
+
+        # Validate required keys exist
+        for key in meta system cpu cpu_microcode vulnerabilities; do
+          echo "$json" | jq -e ".$key" >/dev/null || {
+            echo "Missing top-level key: $key"
+            echo "$json" | jq .
+            exit 1
+          }
+        done
+
+        # Use -r to get raw scalars (no quotes)
+        fmtver=$(echo "$json" | jq -r '.meta.format_version // empty')
+        if [ "$fmtver" != "1" ]; then
+          echo "Unexpected format_version: $fmtver"
+          echo "$json" | jq .
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        run_as_root=$(echo "$json" | jq -r '.meta.run_as_root // empty')
+        if [ "$run_as_root" != "true" ]; then
+          echo "Expected run_as_root=true, got: $run_as_root"
+          echo "$json" | jq .
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        mocked=$(echo "$json" | jq -r '.meta.mocked // "false"')
+        if [ "$mocked" = "true" ]; then
+          echo "mocked=true must never appear in production"
+          echo "$json" | jq .
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+        # Count CVEs robustly (as a number)
+        nb=$(echo "$json" | jq -r '[.vulnerabilities[].cve] | length')
         if [ "$nb" -ne "$expected" ]; then
           echo "Invalid number of CVEs reported: $nb instead of $expected"
+          echo "$json" | jq '.vulnerabilities[].cve'
           exit 1
         else
           echo "OK $nb CVEs reported"
         fi
+
+        # Validate json-terse backward compatibility
+        nb_terse=$(sudo ./spectre-meltdown-checker.sh --batch json-terse | jq -r 'map(.CVE) | length')
+        if [ "$nb_terse" -ne "$expected" ]; then
+          echo "json-terse backward compat broken: $nb_terse CVEs instead of $expected"
+          exit 1
+        else
+          echo "OK json-terse backward compat: $nb_terse CVEs"
+        fi
     - name: check docker compose run execution
       run: |
         expected=$(cat .github/workflows/expected_cve_count)
         cd dist
         docker compose build
-        nb=$(docker compose run --rm spectre-meltdown-checker --batch json | jq '.[]|.CVE' | wc -l)
+        json=$(docker compose run --rm spectre-meltdown-checker --batch json || true)
+        echo "$json" | jq . > /dev/null
+        fmtver=$(echo "$json" | jq '.meta.format_version')
+        if [ "$fmtver" != "1" ]; then
+          echo "Unexpected format_version: $fmtver"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        nb=$(echo "$json" | jq '.vulnerabilities[].cve' | wc -l)
         if [ "$nb" -ne "$expected" ]; then
           echo "Invalid number of CVEs reported: $nb instead of $expected"
           exit 1
@@ -51,7 +111,14 @@ jobs:
         expected=$(cat .github/workflows/expected_cve_count)
         cd dist
         docker build -t spectre-meltdown-checker .
-        nb=$(docker run --rm --privileged -v /boot:/boot:ro -v /dev/cpu:/dev/cpu:ro -v /lib/modules:/lib/modules:ro spectre-meltdown-checker --batch json | jq '.[]|.CVE' | wc -l)
+        json=$(docker run --rm --privileged -v /boot:/boot:ro -v /dev/cpu:/dev/cpu:ro -v /lib/modules:/lib/modules:ro spectre-meltdown-checker --batch json || true)
+        echo "$json" | jq . > /dev/null
+        fmtver=$(echo "$json" | jq '.meta.format_version')
+        if [ "$fmtver" != "1" ]; then
+          echo "Unexpected format_version: $fmtver"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        nb=$(echo "$json" | jq '.vulnerabilities[].cve' | wc -l)
         if [ "$nb" -ne "$expected" ]; then
           echo "Invalid number of CVEs reported: $nb instead of $expected"
           exit 1
@@ -92,15 +159,19 @@ jobs:
         fi
     - name: create a pull request to ${{ github.ref_name }}-build
       run: |
+        # all the files in dist/* and .github/* must be moved as is to the -build branch root, move them out for now:
         tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
         mv ./dist/* .github $tmpdir/
         rm -rf ./dist
+
         git fetch origin ${{ github.ref_name }}-build
         git checkout -f ${{ github.ref_name }}-build
+        rm -rf doc/
         mv $tmpdir/* .
-        rm -rf src/
+        rm -rf src/ scripts/ img/
         mkdir -p .github
         rsync -vaP --delete $tmpdir/.github/ .github/
+
         git add --all
         echo =#=#= DIFF CACHED
         git diff --cached

.github/workflows/expected_cve_count

@@ -1 +1 @@
-26
+32

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+name: release
+
+# Manual, path-scoped release helper for master.
+#
+# `master` is BOTH the distribution branch (users download the script here)
+# AND the default branch that hosts the scheduled CI workflows
+# (autoupdate / stale / vuln-watch). `source-build` is a build-OUTPUT branch.
+#
+# We therefore never merge source-build into master: that would drag source-build's
+# whole tree, including the *absence* of the master-only workflows.
+# Instead we copy only the assembled artifact files across, and cut GitHub
+# releases from master directly.
+#
+# Two independent manual actions to run against the `master` branch:
+#
+#   1. sync-from-source-build : open a PR against master carrying the assembled
+#                               files (everything on source-build EXCEPT
+#                               .github/). Nothing lands on master until the PR
+#                               is reviewed and merged.
+#   2. draft-github-release   : create a DRAFT GitHub release from the script
+#                               currently on master, with an auto-drafted
+#                               changelog.
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      action:
+        description: What to do
+        type: choice
+        required: true
+        default: sync-from-source-build
+        options:
+          - sync-from-source-build
+          - draft-github-release
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+concurrency:
+  group: release-master
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # 1. Copy assembled files from source-build onto master (no .github/),
+  #    as a pull request.
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  sync-from-source-build:
+    if: inputs.action == 'sync-from-source-build'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          ref: master
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          persist-credentials: true
+
+      - name: sync assembled files from source-build
+        id: sync
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          git fetch --no-tags origin source-build
+
+          # Every top-level entry on source-build EXCEPT .github/ (master keeps
+          # its own CI). Computed dynamically so any new top-level artifact is
+          # picked up automatically.
+          readarray -t paths < <(git ls-tree --name-only origin/source-build | grep -vxF '.github')
+          echo "Syncing: ${paths[*]}"
+
+          # Mirror source-build exactly for those paths, removing first so that
+          # deletions/renames inside doc/ etc. propagate too.
+          for p in "${paths[@]}"; do rm -rf -- "$p"; done
+          git checkout origin/source-build -- "${paths[@]}"
+          git add --all -- "${paths[@]}"
+
+          if git diff --cached --quiet; then
+            echo "master already up to date with source-build; nothing to sync."
+            echo "changed=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          {
+            echo "changed=true"
+            echo "version=$(grep -m1 "^VERSION=" spectre-meltdown-checker.sh | cut -d"'" -f2)"
+            echo "sb=$(git rev-parse origin/source-build)"
+            echo "sbdate=$(git log -1 --format=%ai origin/source-build)"
+          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      # Note: the repo must have "Allow GitHub Actions to create and approve
+      # pull requests" enabled for this to work.
+      - name: open the sync pull request
+        if: steps.sync.outputs.changed == 'true'
+        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7
+        with:
+          base: master
+          branch: release/sync-from-source-build
+          delete-branch: true
+          committer: "github-actions[bot] <41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>"
+          author: "github-actions[bot] <41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>"
+          title: "release: sync v${{ steps.sync.outputs.version }} from source-build"
+          commit-message: |
+            release: sync v${{ steps.sync.outputs.version }} from source-build
+
+             built from source-build commit ${{ steps.sync.outputs.sb }}
+             dated ${{ steps.sync.outputs.sbdate }}
+          body: |
+            Assembled files copied from `source-build` onto `master` (everything
+            except `.github/`, which stays master-only).
+
+            - version: `${{ steps.sync.outputs.version }}`
+            - built from source-build commit: ${{ steps.sync.outputs.sb }}
+            - dated: ${{ steps.sync.outputs.sbdate }}
+
+            Once merged, run this workflow again with the `draft-github-release`
+            action to cut the release, if required.
+
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  # 2. Draft a GitHub release from the script currently on master.
+  # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  draft-github-release:
+    if: inputs.action == 'draft-github-release'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          ref: master
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          persist-credentials: true
+
+      - name: draft a release from the current master script
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+          ver=$(grep -m1 "^VERSION=" spectre-meltdown-checker.sh | cut -d"'" -f2)
+          tag="v${ver}"
+
+          if gh release view "$tag" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "A release for $tag already exists; refusing to recreate." >&2
+            echo "Delete it first if needed." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # Draft the changelog from the source-build commits assembled since the
+          # previous published release. We locate the source-build commit whose
+          # built VERSION equals the last release tag, then list what came after.
+          git fetch --no-tags origin source-build
+          last_tag=$(gh release list --exclude-drafts --limit 1 --json tagName --jq '.[0].tagName // empty')
+          old_ver="${last_tag#v}"
+
+          base=""
+          if [ -n "$old_ver" ]; then
+            while read -r h; do
+              v=$(git show "$h:spectre-meltdown-checker.sh" 2>/dev/null | grep -m1 "^VERSION=" | cut -d"'" -f2 || true)
+              if [ "$v" = "$old_ver" ]; then base="$h"; break; fi
+            done < <(git rev-list --max-count=500 origin/source-build)
+          fi
+
+          {
+            echo "## ${tag}"
+            echo
+            if [ -n "$base" ]; then
+              git log --no-merges --format='- %s' "${base}..origin/source-build"
+            else
+              echo "_Could not determine the previous release point automatically — please fill in the changelog. Last 30 assembled commits below as a starting point:_"
+              echo
+              git log --no-merges --format='- %s' --max-count=30 origin/source-build
+            fi
+          } > notes.md
+
+          echo "----- draft notes -----"; cat notes.md; echo "-----------------------"
+
+          gh release create "$tag" \
+            --draft \
+            --target "$GITHUB_SHA" \
+            --title "$tag" \
+            --notes-file notes.md \
+            spectre-meltdown-checker.sh
+
+          echo "Draft release $tag created."

.github/workflows/stale.yml

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ on:
       action:
         description: "dry-run"
         required: true
-        default: "dryrun"
+        default: "apply"
         type: choice
         options:
           - dryrun
@@ -30,4 +30,7 @@ jobs:
           days-before-close: 7
           stale-issue-label: stale
           remove-stale-when-updated: true
+          close-issue-reason: completed
+          stale-issue-message: "If there are no further comments or activity on this issue, it'll be closed automatically in 7 days."
+          close-issue-message: "Automatically closing this issue due to inactivity, don't hesitate to open a new issue if needed."
           debug-only: ${{ case(inputs.action == 'dryrun', true, false) }}

.github/workflows/vuln-watch.yml

@@ -45,14 +45,14 @@ jobs:
       # workflow file itself MUST stay on the default branch, as GitHub only
       # honors `schedule:` triggers on the default branch.
       - name: Checkout vuln-watch branch (scripts + prompt)
-        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           ref: vuln-watch
           fetch-depth: 1
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
           python-version: '3.12'
 
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Download previous state artifact
         if: steps.prev.outputs.run_id != ''
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v5
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         continue-on-error: true   # tolerate retention expiry
         with:
           name: vuln-watch-state
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ jobs:
       # implemented?". Only fetched on days with something to classify.
       - name: Checkout checker code (test branch) for coverage grep
         if: steps.diff.outputs.new_count != '0' || steps.diff.outputs.reconsider_count != '0'
-        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           ref: test
           path: checker
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload Claude execution log
         if: ${{ always() && steps.classify.outputs.execution_file != '' }}
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v5
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: claude-execution-log-${{ github.run_id }}
           path: ${{ steps.classify.outputs.execution_file }}
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload new state artifact
         if: always()
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v5
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: vuln-watch-state
           path: state/seen.json
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Upload daily report
         if: always()
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v5
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:
           name: vuln-watch-report-${{ github.run_id }}
           path: |

README.md

@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@ CVE | Name | Aliases
 [CVE-2024-45332](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-45332) | Branch Privilege Injection | BPI
 [CVE-2025-54505](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2025-54505) | AMD Zen1 Floating-Point Divider Stale Data Leak | FPDSS
 
+The following entries are ARM64 silicon errata that the kernel actively works around. They have no assigned CVE; they are tracked only by ARM's erratum numbers. Select them with `--errata <number>` or the associated `--variant` mnemonic.
+
+ID | Name | Affected cores
+-- | ---- | --------------
+CVE-0001-0001 | Speculative AT TLB corruption (errata 1165522, 1319367, 1319537, 1530923) | Cortex-A55/A57/A72/A76
+CVE-0001-0002 | Speculative unprivileged load (errata 2966298, 3117295) | Cortex-A510/A520
+CVE-0001-0003 | MSR SSBS not self-synchronizing (erratum 3194386 + siblings) | Cortex-A76/A77/A78/A78C/A710/A715/A720/A720AE/A725, X1/X1C/X2/X3/X4/X925, Neoverse-N1/N2/N3/V1/V2/V3/V3AE
+
 ## Am I at risk?
 
 Depending on your situation, the table below answers whether an attacker in a given position can extract data from a given target.

doc/UNSUPPORTED_CVE_LIST.md

@@ -307,3 +307,13 @@ A weakness in AMD's microcode signature verification (AES-CMAC hash) allows load
 Exploits a synchronization failure in the AMD stack engine via an undocumented MSR bit, targeting AMD SEV-SNP confidential VMs. Requires hypervisor-level (ring 0) access.
 
 **Why out of scope:** Not a transient/speculative execution side channel. This is an architectural attack on AMD SEV-SNP confidential computing that requires hypervisor access, which is outside the threat model of this tool.
+
+## No CVE — Jump Conditional Code (JCC) Erratum
+
+- **Issue:** [#329](https://github.com/speed47/spectre-meltdown-checker/issues/329)
+- **Intel whitepaper:** [Mitigations for Jump Conditional Code Erratum](https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/processors/mitigations-jump-conditional-code-erratum.pdf)
+- **Affected CPUs:** Intel 6th through 10th generation Core and Xeon processors (Skylake through Cascade Lake)
+
+A microarchitectural correctness erratum where a conditional jump instruction that straddles or ends at a 64-byte instruction fetch boundary can corrupt the branch predictor state, potentially causing incorrect execution. Intel addressed this in a November 2019 microcode update. Compilers and assemblers (GCC, LLVM, binutils) also introduced alignment options (`-mbranch-alignment`, `-x86-branches-within-32B-boundaries`) to pad jump instructions away from boundary conditions, preserving performance on CPUs with updated microcode.
+
+**Why out of scope:** The JCC erratum is a microarchitectural correctness bug, not a transient or speculative execution side-channel vulnerability. No CVE was ever assigned. Red Hat noted that privilege escalation "has not been ruled out" but made no definitive security finding, and no exploit has been demonstrated. There is no Linux sysfs entry, no CPUID bit, and no MSR flag exposing the mitigation status. The microcode fix introduces no detectable hardware indicator, so checking for it would require maintaining a per-CPU-stepping minimum microcode version table (the design principle 3 exception) — costly to maintain without a CVE anchor or confirmed exploitability to justify the ongoing work. The kernel compiler mitigation is a build-time-only change (instruction alignment) with no observable runtime state.