Security Bulletin: IBM i has released PTFs in response to the vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown.

Workarounds and Mitigations

Releases 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 of the IBM i operating system are supported and the vulnerabilities associated with the applicable CVEs will be mitigated by applying all of the applicable PTFs listed below.

The IBM i PTFs listed in this Security Bulletin can be loaded and applied independently of the Power FW fixes that have been created to address the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. Both the IBM i and Power Firmware fixes are required to mitigate the vulnerabilities. If the IBM i PTFs are applied before the Power Firmware fixes, then mitigations for the IBM i LPAR may not become effective until Power Firmware fixes are applied and an Initial Program Load (IPL) or Live Partition Mobility (LPM) operation for the IBM i LPAR is completed.

Note: Please review the Power Firmware Security bulletin available via the link provided for information related to recently released Power Firmware fixes required to mitigate the vulnerabilities.

Link to the related Power Firmware Security Bulletin and fix information:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1026811

The IBM i PTF numbers that address the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities are:

PTFs released on October 16, 2018

NOTE:  Please read the special instruction section of each October 16, 2018 PTF for the PTF activation details.

The PTFs released on October 16, 2018, in combination with the Power Firmware fixes, are required to mitigate the vulnerabilities on all hardware models that run the IBM i operating system.

Release 7.1 - MF65387
Release 7.2 - MF65388
Release 7.3 - MF65389

PTFs released on September 14, 2018

NOTE:  Please read the special instruction section of each September 14, 2018 PTF for the PTF activation details.

The PTFs released on September 14, 2018, in combination with the Power Firmware fixes, are required to mitigate the vulnerabilities on all hardware models that run the IBM i operating system.

Release 7.1 - MF65252, MF65226, MF65182, MF65181, SI67984, MF65254, SI68188, SI67923, MF65231, MF65055, MF65289
Release 7.2 - MF65247, MF65221, MF65169, MF65010, SI67955, MF65253, SI68187, SI67922, MF65232, MF65054, MF65290
Release 7.3 - MF64591, MF64931, MF65000, MF64997, SI67600, MF65227, SI68145, SI67897, MF65234, MF65053, MF65291

Some of the IBM i PTFs listed above pre-req these Technology Refresh (TR) PTFs:
7.1 – MF99011
7.2 – MF99108
7.3 – MF99204

PTFs released on May 22, 2018

The PTFs released on May 22, 2018, in combination with the Power Firmware fixes, are required to mitigate the vulnerabilities on all hardware models that run the IBM i operating system.

Release 7.1 - MF64991, MF64992, MF64993, MF64994, MF65001
Release 7.2 - MF64985, MF64988, MF64989, MF64990, MF65002
Release 7.3 - MF64984, MF64986, MF64987, MF64995, MF65004

The IBM i PTFs listed above pre-req these Technology Refresh (TR) PTFs:

7.1 – MF99011
7.2 – MF99108
7.3 – MF99204

PTFs released on February 22, 2018

The PTFs released on February 22, 2018, in combination with the recent Power Firmware fixes, are required to mitigate the vulnerabilities on all POWER7 and POWER7+ hardware models that run the IBM i operating system. The PTFs can be loaded on all other Power hardware models but they are not required to mitigate the vulnerabilities.

Release 7.1 - MF64698, MF64699
Release 7.2 - MF64696, MF64697
Release 7.3 - MF64694, MF64695

The IBM i PTFs listed above pre-req these Technology Refresh (TR) PTFs:

7.1 – MF99011
7.2 – MF99108
7.3 – MF99204

PTFs released on February 8, 2018

Note: Please review the Power Firmware Security bulletin available via the link provided for information related to recently released Power Firmware fixes required to mitigate the vulnerabilities.

The IBM i PTFs released on February 8, 2018, in combination with the recent Power Firmware fixes, are required to mitigate vulnerabilities on all Power 7, Power 7+, and Power 8 hardware models that run the IBM i operating system.

Release 7.1 - MF64599, MF64602, MF64603, MF64604, MF64609, MF64612, MF64615, MF64616, MF64617, MF64618, MF64619, MF64620

Release 7.2 - MF64598, MF64601, MF64607, MF64611, MF64614

Release 7.3 - MF64597, MF64600, MF64605, MF64610, MF64613

The IBM i PTFs listed above pre-req these Technology Refresh (TR) PTFs:

7.1 – MF99011
7.2 – MF99108
7.3 – MF99204

PTFs released on January 26, 2018

The PTFs released on January 26, 2018 are required to mitigate the vulnerabilities on all Power 8 hardware models that run the IBM i operating system. The PTFs can be loaded on all other Power HW models but they are not required to mitigate the vulnerabilities. Additional PTFs addressing other hardware models will be released as they become available.

Release 7.1 – MF64571
Release 7.2 – MF64565
Release 7.3 – MF64568

PTFs released on January 10, 2018

Release 7.1 – MF64553
Release 7.2 – MF64552
Release 7.3 – MF64551

Important note: IBM recommends that all users running unsupported versions of affected products upgrade to supported and fixed version of affected products.