A newly unveiled security flaw in Intel’s CPU designs has sent programmers into a frenzy, as they try to patch the Meltdown kernel memory leaking bug in Linux and Windows environments – which would let user applications discern the supposedly protected virtual kernel memory, which could let attackers read their stored contents, like passwords or encryption keys. The patches to fix the VM-to-VM vulnerabilities could inflict a 30% performance hit on those CPUs, and could permanently damage Intel’s reputation – as it means that one cloud application could read the contents of other instances running on the same CPU. It’s worth remembering Intel’s ongoing issues with its bug-riddled DOCSIS Puma 6 SoC, with jitter issues meaning its contract at Arris…