Secret debug mode unlocked in AMD chips
A secret debugging mode, built into all AMD processors since the Athlon XP range, has been uncovered by a hacker - opening the doors for advanced program debugging beyond that specified in the x86 architecture.
Discovered by a hacker known as Czernobyl, the debug mode appears to be an internal AMD utility coded in to the processors by design but disabled when they are shipped. While the capability is still there, it is only accessible by setting certain values in the processor's registers in order to unlock it - values that AMD is keeping a closely guarded secret, akin to a password.
Czernobyl, however, has brute forced his way into the debug mode, and discovered a wealth of potential that could make AMD processors the chips of choice for hackers, coders, and especially reverse engineers, including data-aware conditional breakpoints and page-guard breakpoints that operate directly in the hardware.
