[thehappypm]

That's the real nightmare. Now all of a sudden, you can program the CPU itself if you can access the update mechanism. CPUs being non-programmable is a feature as well as a bug.

[deelowe]

CPUs are already "programmable" via microcode updates.

[cwzwarich]

Pretty much every new non-x86 CPU doesn't have updatable microcode, so that's a very x86-centric problem.

[gtsteve]

Microcode is loaded when the OS starts though right? At the very least it's not persistent.

[deelowe]

BIOS or OS

[pjmlp]

And have been since ages, that was one of the themes regarding RISC Vs CISC design.