topic Re:Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs in Mobile and Desktop Processors

Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs

shs — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 19:04:13 GMT

Hello!

I am trying to figure out which processors have memory protection keys enabled as a security feature.

When looking at the specifications of various Core processors, I found that Generations 6 through 10 inclusive utilized MPX but that seems different from MPK.

How can I use the specifications pages to identify whether a processor utilizes MPK? If this is not possible, what is the best way to get this information?

Thank you!

Re:Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs

KentRusselP_Intel — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 07:46:17 GMT

Hi shs,

Thank you for reaching out to the Intel Community Forum. I appreciate your message and want to assure you that I’m here to assist you with your concern.

Please be advised that Intel Memory Protection Extensions (MPX) may be available in most Intel® 6th/7th/8th/9th Generation processors. However, 10th generation and newer processors on 10nm lithography no longer support this feature.

Some 10th generation mobile processors on 14nm lithography may still support Intel MPX.

The following steps will help you confirm if an Intel processor supports Intel MPX.

Visit https://ark.intel.com/.
Search for the processor number (per example: i3-10110U).
Click the result.
Navigate under Security & Reliability section.
Intel® Memory Protection Extensions (Intel® MPX) should be noted as Yes if the feature is supported.

Alternately, here are the comparisons for your reference. for 6th/7th/8th/9th Generation processors and here is the comparison for the 10th gen mobile processors which may have the feature.

As for the Intel Memory Protection Keys (MPK), this feature is not present in all Intel processors. It is only available on specific Intel processor families and generations. Here are some of the processors with this feature:

Server/Workstation:

Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Skylake-SP and later)
Some Xeon W-series processors
Select Xeon E-series processors

Client/Desktop:

Limited availability in consumer Core processors
Some 6th generation (Skylake) and later Core processors
Not universal across all Core processor models

MPK is a premium security feature found primarily in server/enterprise processors and select high-end client processors

If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re: Re:Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs

shs — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:08:27 GMT

Thank you for your response!

If I am looking at the page for a processor and want to identify whether it has MPK how should I go about that?

When looking at the page for a Skylake-SP I could not find any details stating that it utilizes Memory Protection Keys / MPK or PKU.

What is the best way to determine whether any given processor has MPK?

Thank you!

Re:Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs

KentRusselP_Intel — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 08:24:02 GMT

Hi shs,

Thank you for getting back. The best way to know if a processor supports MPK, it's also the same with the previous step:

Visit https://ark.intel.com/.
Search for the processor number
Click the result.
Navigate under Security & Reliability section.
Intel® Memory Protection Keys (Intel® MPK) should be noted as Yes if the feature is supported.

Also, please be advised that Intel® Xeon® Bronze 3104 Processor is already discontinued and please be advised that even if MPX is present on some processors, remember it's deprecated and removed from modern processors/software. Consider this for legacy compatibility only.

If you need memory protection features, consider upgrading to newer Xeon processors.

If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re:Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs

KentRusselP_Intel — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 04:14:29 GMT

Hi shs,

I just wanted to follow up and check if you’ve had a chance to review the information I shared previously. Your feedback is important, and I’d appreciate it if you could share your thoughts at your earliest convenience.

If you have any questions or need further clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best Regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re:Identifying MPK/PKU on CPUs

KentRusselP_Intel — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 01:50:36 GMT

Hi shs,

I hope you're doing well. As I haven’t received a response, I will proceed to close this inquiry. Should you require further assistance or have additional questions, please feel free to submit a new request. Kindly note that this thread will no longer be monitored once closed.

Best regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician