New Hardware Device Can RAM into Encrypted Memory, Expose Your Data
AMD, Monday, September 14th, 2026
The Register reports a low-cost DDR5 interposer called DDRop defeats AMD SEV-SNP and Intel TDX memory encryption.
Researchers from KU Leuven, ETH Zurich, Durham University and Google found that scalable memory encryption hardware does not verify whether data in memory is fresh.
They built a small hardware interposer named DDRop that wires into a DDR5 circuit board and silently drops write operations, leaving the processor to read back stale, attacker-chosen data.
That turns a confidential VM protected by AMD SEV-SNP or Intel TDX into a target for replay attacks. The attack needs brief physical access to the server, which puts cloud and colocation confidential-computing guarantees under fresh scrutiny.