SpectreGuard: An Efficient Data-centric Defense Mechanism against Spectre Attacks

Speculative execution is an essential performance enhancing technique in modern processors, but it has been shown to be insecure. In this paper, we propose SpectreGuard, a novel defense mechanism against Spectre attacks. In our approach, sensitive memory blocks (e.g., secret keys) are marked using simple OS/library API, which are then selectively protected by hardware from Spectre attacks via low-cost micro-architecture extension. This technique allows microprocessors to maintain high performance, while restoring the control to software developers to make security and performance trade-offs.