AMD to restore TSME support to Ryzen 9000 CPUs after backlash
AMD confirms that TSME support is returning to Ryzen 9000 series CPUs in July
AMD has been facing backlash for removing support for “Memory Guard” (Transparent Secure Memory Encryption/TSME) from recent BIOS updates for its Ryzen 9000 series CPUs. This issue was uncovered by Ben Kilpatrick, a Linux hobbyist who discovered that AMD had quietly removed this feature from its consumer-grade CPUs.
TSME is a feature that allows AMD’s processors to generate a key and encrypt data stored on system memory (RAM). It is a hardware-level feature that AMD markets for its Ryzen PRO series processors. While AMD did not market this feature for its consumer-grade Ryzen desktop CPUs, it was available in both hardware and software. That feature was taken away from users with newer AMD firmware revisions.
Taking away features that were previously available – That’s a problem
While not many Ryzen desktop CPU users care that much about TSME support, nobody wants features taken away from them. Once news of this feature’s removal came to light, it started a community backlash. As a result of this, AMD has confirmed that it will “reinstate” the feature in a July BIOS release. This change is in response to “valuable community feedback”.
AMD Memory Guard (Transparent Secure Memory Encryption, or TSME) is a hardware-based memory encryption technology available on our Ryzen PRO desktop and mobile processors where supported in silicon. It is a foundational security feature, and we have no plans to remove support from our Ryzen PRO lineup. This commitment holds now and in the future.
Regarding certain non-PRO Ryzen 9000-series desktop processors, a BIOS option to enable Memory Guard was previously available but was removed in a recent update. Based on valuable community feedback, we will reinstate this option in an upcoming BIOS release in July.”
(Ben Kilpatrick on GitHub)
Removing TSME support from Ryzen 9000 (non-Pro) series desktop CPUs was a bad move. While few people used the feature, AMD shouldn’t be removing features from its products after launch. At a minimum, AMD should have informed customers about this change. If nothing else, the secret nature of this change made the eventual backlash much larger than it otherwise would have been.
The good news here is that the backlash worked. AMD has responded to feedback, and TSME support is returning next month.
You can join the discussion on AMD’s plan to reinstate TSME support on Ryzen 9000 series CPUs on the OC3D Forums.
