doc: document path-scoped release flow and update branch model

Add RELEASE.md describing the manual sync -> draft -> publish release
procedure

Update DEVELOPMENT.md's Branch Model to reflect that source-build is copied
onto master by the manual `release` workflow instead of merged via PR.

DEVELOPMENT.md

@@ -41,20 +41,22 @@ The project uses 4 branches organized in two pipelines (production and dev/test)
 | **`test-build`** | Monolithic test script (built artifact) | CI from `test` |
 | **`source`** | Production source (split files + Makefile) | Developers |
 | **`source-build`** | Monolithic test script (built artifact) | CI from `source` |
-| **`master`** | Monolithic production script (built artifact) | PR by developers from `source-build` |
+| **`master`** | Monolithic production script (built artifact) | `release` workflow, synced from `source-build` |
 
 - **`source`** and **`test`** contain the split source files and the Makefile. These are the branches developers commit to.
 - **`master`**, **`source-build`** and **`test-build`** contain only the monolithic `spectre-meltdown-checker.sh` built by CI. Nobody commits to these directly.
 - **`master`** is the preexisting production branch that users pull from. It cannot be renamed.
 - **`test-build`** is a testing branch that users can pull from to test pre-release versions.
-- **`source-build`** is a preprod branch to prepare the artifact before merging to **`master`**.
+- **`source-build`** is a preprod branch to prepare the artifact before releasing it to **`master`**. It is a build *output* branch and is never merged into `master`; instead the assembled files are copied across by the manual `release` workflow (see [RELEASE.md](RELEASE.md)), which keeps `master`'s own CI workflows untouched.
 
 Typical workflow:
 1. Feature/fix branches are created from `test` and merged back into `test`.
 2. CI builds the script and pushes it to `test-build` for testing.
 3. When ready for release, `test` is merged into `source`.
 4. CI builds the script and pushes it to `source-build` for production.
-5. Developer creates a PR from `source-build` to `master`.
+5. Developer runs the manual `release` workflow to sync `source-build`'s
+   assembled files onto `master` and draft a GitHub release. See
+   [RELEASE.md](RELEASE.md) for the full procedure.
 
 ## Versioning
 

RELEASE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# Releasing
+
+This document describes how a production release reaches the `master` branch
+and how a GitHub release is published. It complements the **Branch Model**
+section of [DEVELOPMENT.md](DEVELOPMENT.md).
+
+This file lives only on the `source`/`test` development branches. It is **not**
+part of `dist/`, so it never reaches `source-build` or `master` — users who
+`git clone` the `master` branch onto their servers get only the files needed to
+run the tool.
+
+## Why `master` is not a merge target
+
+`master` plays two roles at once:
+
+- It is the **distribution branch** — users clone it directly onto their
+  servers, so it must stay minimal (just the monolithic script and the few
+  files needed to run/build the container).
+- It is the repository's **default branch**, which is the only place GitHub
+  runs *scheduled* workflows from. The `autoupdate`, `stale` and `vuln-watch`
+  workflows are therefore **master-only** and deliberately kept off the
+  `source`/`test` line (see commit "remove from test branch workflows that must
+  live on master").
+
+`source-build` is a build **output** branch and does **not** carry those
+master-only workflows (the build's `rsync --delete` strips `.github/` down to
+what `source` ships). Merging the whole `source-build` tree into `master` would
+therefore drag the *absence* of those workflows into `master`, producing
+recurring `modify/delete` conflicts — and, worse, a clean merge could silently
+delete them when they hadn't been edited since the last release.
+
+So we never merge `source-build` into `master`. Instead we **copy only the
+assembled artifact files** across, and cut GitHub releases from `master`
+directly.
+
+## The `release` workflow
+
+`.github/workflows/release.yml` (which, like the other master-only workflows,
+lives **only on `master`**) is triggered manually via `workflow_dispatch` and
+offers two independent actions selected from the `action` dropdown. Run it
+against the `master` branch.
+
+### 1. `sync-from-source-build`
+
+Copies every top-level entry on `source-build` **except `.github/`**
+(`spectre-meltdown-checker.sh`, `README.md`, `doc/`, `Dockerfile`,
+`docker-compose.yml`) onto `master` as a single commit, mirroring exactly
+(deletions and renames included). `master`'s own `.github/` — its
+master-only CI — is never touched.
+
+The script's contents are copied byte-for-byte, so its `VERSION` (generated by
+the `source-build` build) is preserved unchanged. No version bump happens here.
+
+The job is a no-op if `master` is already up to date.
+
+### 2. `draft-github-release`
+
+Reads the `VERSION` from the script currently on `master`, and creates a
+**draft** GitHub release tagged `v<VERSION>`, with the monolithic script
+attached as an asset. Because it is a draft, **no tag is created and nothing is
+published** until you press *Publish* in the Releases UI — so this step is fully
+reversible.
+
+The changelog is auto-drafted by locating the `source-build` commit whose built
+`VERSION` matches the previous published release, then listing every assembled
+commit since. Treat it as a starting point and edit it before publishing.
+
+## Release procedure
+
+1. Confirm `source-build` holds the artifact you want to release (CI is green,
+   version string looks right).
+2. Run the **`release`** workflow on `master` with `action =
+   sync-from-source-build`. Review the resulting commit/diff on `master`.
+3. Run the **`release`** workflow on `master` with `action =
+   draft-github-release`.
+4. Open the draft release, review/edit the auto-generated changelog, then
+   **Publish** it. Publishing creates the `v<VERSION>` tag.
+
+Steps 2 and 3 are decoupled on purpose: you can refresh `master` from
+`source-build` (step 2) without cutting a formal GitHub release yet.
+
+## Rollback
+
+- Before publishing: delete the draft release in the UI (no tag exists yet).
+- After a bad `sync-from-source-build`: `master` history is intact — revert the
+  sync commit with a normal `git revert` (never force-push `master`).

src/db/200_mcedb.sh

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 # with X being either I for Intel, or A for AMD
 # When the date is unknown it defaults to 20000101
 
-# %%% MCEDB v349+i20260227+615b
+# %%% MCEDB v351+i20260512+1cce
 # I,0x00000611,0xFF,0x00000B27,19961218
 # I,0x00000612,0xFF,0x000000C6,19961210
 # I,0x00000616,0xFF,0x000000C6,19961210
@@ -381,14 +381,14 @@
 # I,0x000806F2,0xFF,0x8C0004E0,20211112
 # I,0x000806F3,0xFF,0x8D000520,20220812
 # I,0x000806F4,0x10,0x2C000421,20250825
-# I,0x000806F4,0x87,0x2B000661,20250825
+# I,0x000806F4,0x87,0x2B000670,20251217
 # I,0x000806F5,0x10,0x2C000421,20250825
-# I,0x000806F5,0x87,0x2B000661,20250825
+# I,0x000806F5,0x87,0x2B000670,20251217
 # I,0x000806F6,0x10,0x2C000421,20250825
-# I,0x000806F6,0x87,0x2B000661,20250825
-# I,0x000806F7,0x87,0x2B000661,20250825
+# I,0x000806F6,0x87,0x2B000670,20251217
+# I,0x000806F7,0x87,0x2B000670,20251217
 # I,0x000806F8,0x10,0x2C000421,20250825
-# I,0x000806F8,0x87,0x2B000661,20250825
+# I,0x000806F8,0x87,0x2B000670,20251217
 # I,0x00090660,0xFF,0x00000009,20200617
 # I,0x00090661,0x01,0x0000001A,20240405
 # I,0x00090670,0xFF,0x00000019,20201111
@@ -425,11 +425,12 @@
 # I,0x000A06C0,0xFF,0x00000013,20230901
 # I,0x000A06C1,0xFF,0x00000005,20231201
 # I,0x000A06D0,0xFF,0x10000680,20240818
-# I,0x000A06D1,0x20,0x0A000133,20251009
-# I,0x000A06D1,0x95,0x01000405,20251031
-# I,0x000A06E1,0x97,0x01000303,20251202
+# I,0x000A06D1,0x20,0x0A000142,20260129
+# I,0x000A06D1,0x95,0x01000423,20260129
+# I,0x000A06E0,0xFF,0x80000953,20240902
+# I,0x000A06E1,0x97,0x01000307,20260226
 # I,0x000A06F0,0xFF,0x80000360,20240130
-# I,0x000A06F3,0x01,0x03000382,20250730
+# I,0x000A06F3,0x01,0x030003A3,20260130
 # I,0x000B0650,0x80,0x0000000D,20250925
 # I,0x000B0664,0xFF,0x00000030,20250529
 # I,0x000B0670,0xFF,0x0000000E,20220220
@@ -439,25 +440,28 @@
 # I,0x000B06A3,0xE0,0x00006134,20251008
 # I,0x000B06A8,0xE0,0x00006134,20251008
 # I,0x000B06D0,0xFF,0x0000001A,20240610
-# I,0x000B06D1,0x80,0x00000125,20250828
+# I,0x000B06D1,0x80,0x00000126,20251210
 # I,0x000B06E0,0x19,0x00000021,20250912
 # I,0x000B06F2,0x07,0x0000003E,20251012
 # I,0x000B06F5,0x07,0x0000003E,20251012
 # I,0x000B06F6,0x07,0x0000003E,20251012
 # I,0x000B06F7,0x07,0x0000003E,20251012
-# I,0x000C0652,0x82,0x0000011B,20250803
+# I,0x000C0652,0x82,0x00000121,20251215
 # I,0x000C0660,0xFF,0x00000018,20240516
-# I,0x000C0662,0x82,0x0000011B,20250803
-# I,0x000C0664,0x82,0x0000011B,20250803
-# I,0x000C06A2,0x82,0x0000011B,20250803
+# I,0x000C0662,0x82,0x00000121,20251215
+# I,0x000C0664,0x82,0x00000121,20251215
+# I,0x000C06A2,0x82,0x00000121,20251215
 # I,0x000C06C0,0xFF,0x00000012,20250325
-# I,0x000C06C1,0xFF,0x00000115,20251203
-# I,0x000C06C2,0xFF,0x00000115,20251203
-# I,0x000C06C3,0xFF,0x00000115,20251203
-# I,0x000C06F1,0x87,0x210002D3,20250825
-# I,0x000C06F2,0x87,0x210002D3,20250825
-# I,0x000D0670,0xFF,0x00000003,20250825
-# I,0x000D06D0,0xFF,0x00000340,20250807
+# I,0x000C06C1,0x90,0x0000011B,20260324
+# I,0x000C06C2,0x90,0x0000011B,20260324
+# I,0x000C06C3,0x90,0x0000011B,20260324
+# I,0x000C06F1,0x87,0x210002E0,20251217
+# I,0x000C06F2,0x87,0x210002E0,20251217
+# I,0x000D0650,0xFF,0x00000009,20260309
+# I,0x000D0651,0xFF,0x00000009,20260309
+# I,0x000D0670,0xFF,0x00000137,20260218
+# I,0x000D06D0,0xFF,0x80000370,20250917
+# I,0x000D06D1,0xFF,0x01000120,20260325
 # I,0x00FF0671,0xFF,0x0000010E,20220907
 # I,0x00FF0672,0xFF,0x0000000D,20210816
 # I,0x00FF0675,0xFF,0x0000000D,20210816
@@ -554,13 +558,13 @@
 # A,0x00880F40,0xFF,0x08804005,20210312
 # A,0x00890F00,0xFF,0x08900007,20200921
 # A,0x00890F01,0xFF,0x08900103,20201105
-# A,0x00890F02,0xFF,0x08900203,20230915
+# A,0x00890F02,0xFF,0x08900208,20241219
 # A,0x00890F10,0xFF,0x08901003,20230919
 # A,0x008A0F00,0xFF,0x08A0000B,20241125
 # A,0x00A00F00,0xFF,0x0A000033,20200413
 # A,0x00A00F10,0xFF,0x0A00107A,20240226
-# A,0x00A00F11,0xFF,0x0A0011DE,20250418
-# A,0x00A00F12,0xFF,0x0A001247,20250327
+# A,0x00A00F11,0xFF,0x0A0011DF,20260312
+# A,0x00A00F12,0xFF,0x0A00124B,20260305
 # A,0x00A00F80,0xFF,0x0A008005,20230707
 # A,0x00A00F82,0xFF,0x0A00820F,20241111
 # A,0x00A10F00,0xFF,0x0A10004B,20220309
@@ -599,15 +603,15 @@
 # A,0x00B00F00,0xFF,0x0B00004D,20240318
 # A,0x00B00F10,0xFF,0x0B001016,20240318
 # A,0x00B00F20,0xFF,0x0B002032,20241003
-# A,0x00B00F21,0xFF,0x0B002161,20251105
+# A,0x00B00F21,0xFF,0x0B002162,20251105
 # A,0x00B00F80,0xFF,0x0B008011,20241211
 # A,0x00B00F81,0xFF,0x0B008121,20251020
 # A,0x00B10F00,0xFF,0x0B10000F,20240320
-# A,0x00B10F10,0xFF,0x0B101058,20251105
+# A,0x00B10F10,0xFF,0x0B101059,20251105
 # A,0x00B20F40,0xFF,0x0B204037,20251019
 # A,0x00B40F00,0xFF,0x0B400034,20240318
-# A,0x00B40F40,0xFF,0x0B404035,20251020
-# A,0x00B40F41,0xFF,0x0B404108,20251020
-# A,0x00B60F00,0xFF,0x0B600037,20251019
-# A,0x00B60F80,0xFF,0x0B608038,20251019
+# A,0x00B40F40,0xFF,0x0B404038,20260408
+# A,0x00B40F41,0xFF,0x0B40410B,20260408
+# A,0x00B60F00,0xFF,0x0B60003C,20260401
+# A,0x00B60F80,0xFF,0x0B60803C,20260401
 # A,0x00B70F00,0xFF,0x0B700037,20251019

src/libs/003_intel_models.sh

@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@
     readonly INTEL_FAM6_ARROWLAKE_U=$((0xB5))
     readonly INTEL_FAM6_LUNARLAKE_M=$((0xBD))   # /* Lion Cove / Skymont */
     readonly INTEL_FAM6_PANTHERLAKE_L=$((0xCC)) # /* Cougar Cove / Darkmont */
+    readonly INTEL_FAM6_PANTHERLAKE_R=$((0xE5)) # /* Cougar Cove / Darkmont */
     readonly INTEL_FAM6_WILDCATLAKE_L=$((0xD5))
     readonly INTEL_FAM18_NOVALAKE=$((0x01))            # /* Coyote Cove / Arctic Wolf */
     readonly INTEL_FAM18_NOVALAKE_L=$((0x03))          # /* Coyote Cove / Arctic Wolf */

src/libs/200_cpu_affected.sh

@@ -562,6 +562,7 @@ is_cpu_affected() {
 06-c5-02/82,0000011b
 06-c6-02/82,0000011b
 06-bd-01/80,00000125
+06-55-07/bf,05003901
 06-55-0b/bf,07002b01
 06-8f-07/87,2b000661
 06-8f-08/87,2b000661
@@ -724,9 +725,9 @@ is_cpu_affected() {
             if [ -n "$cpupart" ] && [ -n "$cpuarch" ]; then
                 # Cortex-R7 and Cortex-R8 are real-time and only used in medical devices or such
                 # I can't find their CPU part number, but it's probably not that useful anyway
-                # model R7 R8 A8  A9  A12 A15 A17 A57 A72 A73 A75 A76 A77 Neoverse-N1 Neoverse-V1 Neoverse-N1 Neoverse-V2
-                # part   ?  ? c08 c09 c0d c0f c0e d07 d08 d09 d0a d0b d0d d0c         d40	  d49	      d4f
-                # arch  7? 7? 7   7   7   7   7   8   8   8   8   8   8   8           8		  8	      8
+                # model R7 R8 A8  A9  A12 A15 A17 A57 A72 A73 A75 A76 A77 Neoverse-N1 Neoverse-V1 Neoverse-N1 Neoverse-V2 Neoverse-V3 Neoverse-V3AE
+                # part   ?  ? c08 c09 c0d c0f c0e d07 d08 d09 d0a d0b d0d d0c         d40	  d49	      d4f	  d84	      d83
+                # arch  7? 7? 7   7   7   7   7   8   8   8   8   8   8   8           8		  8	      8		  8	      8
                 #
                 # Whitelist identified non-affected processors, use vulnerability information from
                 # https://developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates/speculative-processor-vulnerability
@@ -777,13 +778,13 @@ is_cpu_affected() {
                     _infer_immune variant3a
                     _set_vuln variant4
                     pr_debug "checking cpu$i: armv8 A76/A77/NeoverseN1 non affected to variant 2, 3 & 3a"
-                elif [ "$cpuarch" = 8 ] && echo "$cpupart" | grep -q -w -e 0xd40 -e 0xd49 -e 0xd4f; then
+                elif [ "$cpuarch" = 8 ] && echo "$cpupart" | grep -q -w -e 0xd40 -e 0xd49 -e 0xd4f -e 0xd84 -e 0xd83; then
                     _set_vuln variant1
                     _infer_immune variant2
                     _infer_immune variant3
                     _infer_immune variant3a
                     _infer_immune variant4
-                    pr_debug "checking cpu$i: armv8 NeoverseN2/V1/V2 non affected to variant 2, 3, 3a & 4"
+                    pr_debug "checking cpu$i: armv8 NeoverseN2/V1/V2/V3/V3AE non affected to variant 2, 3, 3a & 4"
                 elif [ "$cpuarch" -le 7 ] || { [ "$cpuarch" = 8 ] && [ $((cpupart)) -lt $((0xd07)) ]; }; then
                     _infer_immune variant1
                     _infer_immune variant2
@@ -844,14 +845,14 @@ is_cpu_affected() {
     # - arm64 (CVE-2020-13844): Cortex-A32/A34/A35/A53/A57/A72/A73 confirmed affected,
     #   and broadly all speculative Armv8-A cores. No kernel mitigation merged.
     #   Part numbers: A32=0xd01 A34=0xd02 A53=0xd03 A35=0xd04 A57=0xd07 A72=0xd08 A73=0xd09
-    #   Plus later speculative cores: A75=0xd0a A76=0xd0b A77=0xd0d N1=0xd0c V1=0xd40 N2=0xd49 V2=0xd4f
+    #   Plus later speculative cores: A75=0xd0a A76=0xd0b A77=0xd0d N1=0xd0c V1=0xd40 N2=0xd49 V2=0xd4f V3=0xd84 V3AE=0xd83
     if is_intel || is_amd; then
         _infer_vuln sls
     elif [ "$cpu_vendor" = ARM ]; then
         for cpupart in $cpu_part_list; do
             if echo "$cpupart" | grep -q -w -e 0xd01 -e 0xd02 -e 0xd03 -e 0xd04 \
                 -e 0xd07 -e 0xd08 -e 0xd09 -e 0xd0a -e 0xd0b -e 0xd0c -e 0xd0d \
-                -e 0xd40 -e 0xd49 -e 0xd4f; then
+                -e 0xd40 -e 0xd49 -e 0xd4f -e 0xd84 -e 0xd83; then
                 _set_vuln sls
             fi
         done

src/libs/350_cpu_detect2.sh

@@ -29,11 +29,18 @@ parse_cpu_details() {
         # cpu_variant_list and cpu_revision_list are consumed by ARM64 errata affection checks
         # that need to match a specific revision range.
         if grep -q 'CPU implementer' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo"; then
-            cpu_impl_list=$(awk '/CPU implementer/ {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo")
-            cpu_part_list=$(awk '/CPU part/         {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo")
-            cpu_arch_list=$(awk '/CPU architecture/ {print $3}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo")
-            cpu_variant_list=$(awk '/CPU variant/   {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo")
-            cpu_revision_list=$(awk '/CPU revision/ {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo")
+            # keep these single-line (space-separated) so consumers and outputs (JSON, prometheus)
+            # don't end up with embedded newlines; per-core order is preserved for the errata checks
+            cpu_impl_list=$(awk '/CPU implementer/ {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo" | tr '\n' ' ')
+            cpu_impl_list=${cpu_impl_list% }
+            cpu_part_list=$(awk '/CPU part/         {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo" | tr '\n' ' ')
+            cpu_part_list=${cpu_part_list% }
+            cpu_arch_list=$(awk '/CPU architecture/ {print $3}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo" | tr '\n' ' ')
+            cpu_arch_list=${cpu_arch_list% }
+            cpu_variant_list=$(awk '/CPU variant/   {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo" | tr '\n' ' ')
+            cpu_variant_list=${cpu_variant_list% }
+            cpu_revision_list=$(awk '/CPU revision/ {print $4}' "$g_procfs/cpuinfo" | tr '\n' ' ')
+            cpu_revision_list=${cpu_revision_list% }
         fi
         # Map first-seen implementer to cpu_vendor; note that heterogeneous systems
         # (e.g. DynamIQ with ARM+Kryo cores) would all map to one vendor here, but

src/libs/400_hw_check.sh

@@ -384,6 +384,12 @@ check_kernel_info() {
     fi
 }
 
+# Collapse a whitespace-separated list to its unique values, preserving first-seen order.
+# Used to prettify the per-core ARM lists for display (e.g. "0x41 0x41 0x41 0x41" -> "0x41").
+_uniq_list() {
+    echo "$1" | awk '{ for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) if (!seen[$i]++) printf "%s%s", (n++ ? " " : ""), $i }'
+}
+
 # Display hardware-level CPU mitigation support (microcode features, ARCH_CAPABILITIES, etc.)
 check_cpu() {
     local capabilities ret spec_ctrl_msr codename ucode_str
@@ -393,13 +399,13 @@ check_cpu() {
         pr_info "  * Vendor: $cpu_vendor"
         pr_info "  * Model name: $cpu_friendly_name"
         if [ -n "${cpu_impl_list:-}" ]; then
-            pr_info "  * Implementer(s): $cpu_impl_list"
+            pr_info "  * Implementer(s): $(_uniq_list "$cpu_impl_list")"
         fi
         if [ -n "${cpu_part_list:-}" ]; then
-            pr_info "  * Part(s): $cpu_part_list"
+            pr_info "  * Part(s): $(_uniq_list "$cpu_part_list")"
         fi
         if [ -n "${cpu_arch_list:-}" ]; then
-            pr_info "  * Architecture(s): $cpu_arch_list"
+            pr_info "  * Architecture(s): $(_uniq_list "$cpu_arch_list")"
         fi
         if has_runtime; then
             pr_info_nol "  * Running as VM guest: "