NOT installing Intel Management Engine DRIVERS: consequences?

[7point5]

so what happens if I don't install the drivers of Intel's MEI? these turds never gave an option to disable MEI in Bios (unlike AMD which gave the option to disable PSP)

 

so since it can't be disabled in Bios, what if I just don't install the drivers in windows?

 

1) if I don't install MEI drivers will this disable the MEI itself? will it disable all the built-in backdoors & spyware & what not? can any techie here confirm?

 

2) what are the other consequences of not installing drivers? (aside from the unknown "pci simple controller" device appearing in device list) will this prevent some apps from running? mess up speedfan probe readings? increase/decrease gaming performance? etc.

Edited March 24, 2018 by 7point5

[Arthur]

1) if I don't install MEI drivers will this disable the MEI itself?

Unfortunately not. Check the following links and me_cleaner website for more details.

 

Intel ME is a coprocessor integrated in all post-2006 Intel boards, for which this Libreboot page has an excellent description. The main component of Intel ME is Intel AMT, and I suggest you to read this Wikipedia page for more information about it. In short, Intel ME is an irremovable environment with an obscure signed proprietary firmware, with full network and memory access, which poses a serious security threat. Even when disabled from the BIOS settings, Intel ME is active: the only way to be sure it is disabled is to remove its firmware from the flash chip.

 

Before Nehalem (ME version 6, 2008/2009) the ME firmware could be removed completely from the flash chip by setting a couple of bits inside the flash descriptor, without the need to reverse-engineer the ME firmware.

 

Starting from Nehalem the Intel ME firmware can't be removed anymore: without a valid firmware the PC shuts off forcefully after 30 minutes. This project is an attempt to remove as much code as possible from such firmware without falling into the 30 minutes recovery mode.

 

Intel ME: Myths and Reality (PDF)

 

The Positive Technologies researchers found an undocumented bit in the descriptor that, once set, forces Intel ME to turn itself off after the initialization of the system

 

Thanks to the testing performed by the community, have been reported working on most the PCs from Nehalem to Coffee Lake, both on commercial firmware and coreboot.

 

Some issues can arise:

 

• "Brick"
  
• Slight boot delay
  
• Automatic rollback of the modifications
  
• Warning messages during the startup
  

 

Disabling Intel ME 11 via undocumented mode

 

Our team of Positive Technologies researchers has delved deep into the internal architecture of Intel Management Engine (ME) 11, revealing a mechanism that can disable Intel ME after hardware is initialized and the main processor starts. In this article, we describe how we discovered this undocumented mode and how it is connected with the U.S. government's High Assurance Platform (HAP) program.

 

Disclaimer: The methods described here are risky and may damage or destroy your computer. We take no responsibility for any attempts inspired by our work and do not guarantee the operability of anything. For those who are aware of the risks and decide to experiment anyway, we recommend using an SPI programmer.

[mavhc]

First confirm all these backdoors etc exist in your system before caring.

[7point5]

Unfortunately not. Check the following links and me_cleaner website for more details.

 

 

 

Intel ME: Myths and Reality (PDF)

that's the thing I've had windows operate for far longer than 30mn without the MEI drivers installed & it didn't shutdown

 

so what's the difference with MEI drivers installed or not?

 

First confirm all these backdoors etc exist in your system before caring.

without going into politics (much as it's tempting)...I know it's easy to side with Intel cause it is Intel so with such a yuge revenue this megacorporation obviou$ly can only have good intent & it'd be very commie to think otherwise & blabla - but still: if you're not guilty you've nothing to hide no? so why hide what it does? why the f does it need direct access to the NIC? in fact why include this crap at all? for the customer? lol

performance? it's been shown to hinder performance so try again

security? more bollox it's been shown to lower security not improve it (more points of failure & more exploits cf. 11/2017)

so...now that's it's established it's just useless bloatware (like that wasn't bloody obvious)...what's the only explanation left? what's the simplest explanation?

Occam's razor, heard of?

and why omit a simple option in Bios to disable it like AMD recently did with theirs? care to explain that one?

Edited March 24, 2018 by 7point5

[Arthur]

that's the thing I've had windows operate for far longer than 30mn without the MEI drivers installed & it didn't shutdown

The 30 minute shutdown hasn't got anything to do with the Intel MEI drivers. See the PDF. It explains it all.

[7point5]

I read that

not reassuring

in a nutshell they say it's for remote administration

in other words something the average customer not only doesn't need but also doesn't want

 

it also doesn't say what happens if I don't install drivers

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

btw what if I install a non-Intel separate pci-e NIC card this one should be off limits for the ME right?

[difinity]

it also doesn't say what happens if I don't install drivers

 

btw what if I install a non-Intel separate pci-e NIC card this one should be off limits for the ME right?

 

Depending on the BIOS/UEFI/motherboard hardware, not installing the drivers and interface means you don't have access or control over some features like the TPM or Intel Pro Wireless Display, The Intel ME is still however running.

 

The name on the Ethernet controller doesn't matter.

[7point5]

The name on the Ethernet controller doesn't matter.

suppose I install a very recent non-Intel Ethernet card (more recent then the ME drivers) will ME still be able to access the network?

 

any way of preventing it from doing so? (I read that blocking traffic in router is useless but they dont explain why)