“Intel GDS Mitigation” Warning in Device Security

[dreiirmrz]

Hello! I’m trying to fix the “Intel GDS Mitigation” warning in Device Security.

Ubuntu Version:
Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
GNOME

Problem Description:
I just really need to solve this security issue. Switched to Ubuntu 2 months ago, and just last month I got unauthorized charges on my credit card for the first time in 5 years. I know there’s a lot of possibilities but it would give me great peace of mind if I can rule out that it’s a vulnerability in my system that caused it.

I am not tech-savvy. And I tried to research solutions which either gave me troubleshooting steps to try or splattered technical terminologies so hard to understand onto my face. Hehe. So if you could give easy-to-follow instructions, I’d appreciate it.

Relevant System Information:
I’m using Lenovo X390 Type 20Q1 dual boot with Windows 10 and Ubuntu.
Processor: Intel Core i5-8265U x 8

Screenshots or Error Messages:
“Intel GDS Mitigation
2025-06-09 12-21:12
CPU Microcode must be updated to mitigate against various information-disclosure security issues.
This issue could have been caused by a change in the UEFI firmware settings, or because of malicious software on this system.”

lscpu output:
Architecture: x86_64
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit
Address sizes: 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
Byte Order: Little Endian
CPU(s): 8
On-line CPU(s) list: 0-7
Vendor ID: GenuineIntel
Model name: Intel(R) Core™ i5-8265U CPU @ 1.60GHz
CPU family: 6
Model: 142
Thread(s) per core: 2
Core(s) per socket: 4
Socket(s): 1
Stepping: 12
CPU(s) scaling MHz: 91%
CPU max MHz: 1600.0000
CPU min MHz: 400.0000
BogoMIPS: 3600.00
Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge m
ca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 s
s ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc
art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nons
top_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor
ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid
sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer a
es xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpu
id_fault epb ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_sh
adow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust
sgx bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid mpx rdseed adx sm
ap clflushopt intel_pt xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves
dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window
hwp_epp vnmi md_clear flush_l1d arch_capabilities
Virtualization features:
Virtualization: VT-x
Caches (sum of all):
L1d: 128 KiB (4 instances)
L1i: 128 KiB (4 instances)
L2: 1 MiB (4 instances)
L3: 6 MiB (1 instance)
NUMA:
NUMA node(s): 1
NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-7
Vulnerabilities:
Gather data sampling: Vulnerable
Ghostwrite: Not affected
Itlb multihit: KVM: Mitigation: Split huge pages
L1tf: Not affected
Mds: Not affected
Meltdown: Not affected
Mmio stale data: Mitigation; Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Reg file data sampling: Not affected
Retbleed: Mitigation; Enhanced IBRS
Spec rstack overflow: Not affected
Spec store bypass: Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prct
l
Spectre v1: Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointe
r sanitization
Spectre v2: Mitigation; Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB conditiona
l; PBRSB-eIBRS SW sequence; BHI SW loop, KVM SW loop
Srbds: Mitigation; Microcode
Tsx async abort: Not affected

What I’ve Tried:

• apt update && upgrade
• apt dist-upgrade
• fwupdmgr refresh && update.
• Downloaded BIOS/UEFI updater from Lenovo’s website, but Ubuntu prompts that the version is older that what is currently installed.
• install --reinstall intel-microcode

Any help will be appreciated!

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello dreiirmrz,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

I will look into this internally and provide an update as soon as it's available.

Best regards,

JeanetteC.

Intel® Customer Support Technician

[dreiirmrz]

Thank you @JeanetteC_Intel . I look forward to getting a helpful insight and resolution for this issue.

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello dreiirmrz,

Please be advised that I have reviewed the situation that you have raised with us. Please check the following talking points below:

For the unauthorized credit card transaction:

• The unauthorized credit card charge is unrelated to the warning you received from the device security application within Ubuntu. For the unauthorized charge, it is important to report it to your bank and local law enforcement authorities.

For the vulnerability notice:

• It is advisable to contact your laptop OEM and your OS provider.

Regarding the notice you received, it seems your operating system is attempting to update the Intel Microcode currently installed for Ubuntu 24.04.

• There are multiple methods to load microcode. Some of them require system reboot, others don’t. Some of them can only be applied to upgrade the microcode, while others allow you to both downgrade and upgrade your current microcode. Some of them will work regardless of your Linux distribution, and some are distribution specific.
• Intel has publicly listed steps on how to conduct an Early OS Microcode Update under the article: Loading Microcode from the OS but considering the situation he presented, the steps we've listed on the online article may not be applicable therefore it would be in the best interest to coordinate with this OS provider to assist with the Microcode update

I hope this information is helpful.

Best regards,

JeanetteC.

Intel® Customer Support Technician