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DDRop – Physical Memory Interposer Research
Announcement ID:
2026-09-14-001
Summary:
Intel is aware of newly published academic research titled “DDRop: Active Memory Interposer Attacks on Confidential VMs by Dropping DDR5 Writes,” which describes a physical attack technique against DDR5 RDIMM memory using a simple hardware interposer.
Intel’s analysis confirms that the described scenarios fall outside Intel’s standard threat model for confidential computing deployments. Intel is evaluating additional architectural hardening options and detection mechanisms as part of ongoing platform security improvements, including the development of Platform Owner Endorsements which enable remote parties to establish who is in physical possession of the hardware sensitive workloads are running on.
Attack Requirements:
Requires physical access to the server
Requires physical installation of a DDR5 memory interposer
Requires privileged software execution
Not remotely exploitable
Customer Actions:
Intel recommends the following defense‑in‑depth practices, which are already standard for secure deployments:
Restrict and monitor physical access to servers
Maintain secure supply‑chain and hardware handling procedures
Apply least‑privilege controls for system software and firmware
Keep systems up to date with the latest security updates
Additional Information:
- For more information about how Intel is seeking to address memory interposer attacks, see this OC3 2026 keynote from Intel Distinguished Engineer, Simon Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqHekMFxmkk
Acknowledgements:
Intel acknowledges the academic researchers who reported this issue and coordinated responsibly prior to public disclosure.
Jesse De Meulemeester (COSIC, KU Leuven)
Stefan Gloor (ETH Zurich)
Patrick Jattke (ETH Zurich)
Daniel Moghimi (Google)
David Oswald (Durham University)
Martin Thompson (Durham University)
Kaveh Razavi (ETH Zurich)
Ingrid Verbauwhede (COSIC, KU Leuven)
Jo Van Bulck (DistriNet, KU Leuven)
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