fix: add timeout and sysfs-only to spectre-meltdown-checker#629
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harp-intel merged 2 commits intomainfrom Feb 10, 2026
Merged
fix: add timeout and sysfs-only to spectre-meltdown-checker#629harp-intel merged 2 commits intomainfrom
harp-intel merged 2 commits intomainfrom
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The spectre-meltdown-checker script can be slow on systems with large kernels because it uses objdump and strings to analyze the kernel binary. This adds: - --sysfs-only flag to use the kernel's sysfs vulnerability interface instead of analyzing the kernel binary directly - 60 second timeout as a fallback to prevent hangs The sysfs interface (/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/) has been available since kernel 4.x and provides the kernel's authoritative determination of vulnerability status. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
…sysfs-only option Signed-off-by: Harper, Jason M <jason.m.harper@intel.com>
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Summary
--sysfs-onlyflag to use the kernel's sysfs vulnerability interface instead of analyzing the kernel binary directly with objdump/stringsBackground
The spectre-meltdown-checker script can be very slow on systems with large kernels because it uses
objdumpandstringsto analyze the kernel binary. Kernel sizes vary significantly based on built-in drivers, debug symbols, and distro configuration.The sysfs interface (
/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/) has been available since kernel 4.x and provides the kernel's authoritative determination of vulnerability status.Test plan
perfspect report --cveon a system with a large kernel and verify it completes quickly🤖 Generated with Claude Code