Microsoft suspends some AMD patches for Meltdown and Spectre

Microsoft said on Tuesday that it is suspending patches it released to protect against the the Meltdown and Spectre cybersecurity flaws in AMD chips following user complaints of frozen computers from the patch.

“To prevent AMD customers from getting into an unbootable state, Microsoft will temporarily pause [some] Windows operating system updates to devices with impacted AMD processors at this time,” the company said in a statement.

Microsoft also shifted responsibility for the issue away from itself, blaming it on receiving incorrect “documentation previously provided to Microsoft.”

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The technology company said it is working with AMD to come up with a new solution since the unpatched chips leave computer owners vulnerable to significant malware attacks through the Meltdown and Spectre exploits.

Such attacks can result in sensitive information being stolen from users’ computers, like passwords and encryption keys.

Experts have said that they anticipate patches for the vulnerabilities to slow down computers. Intel, whose chips are also affected by Meltdown and Spectre, said that any performance downgrades will be based on the types of work users are doing and that the average computer user won’t notice a difference.

Researchers have called the flaws, which were revealed last week, some of the worst computer processor vulnerabilities to date. The Department of Homeland Security and Intel have both said that they’re not aware of anyone having successfully exploited the vulnerability yet.