Modern memory is still vulnerable to Rowhammer vulnerabilities — Phoenix root privilege escalation attack proves that Rowhammer still smashes DDR5 security to bits

Scientists from ETH Zürich and Google have demonstrated a new attack named Phoenix on DDR5 RAM, exploiting Rowhammer vulnerabilities for high-level privilege escalation. The attack bypasses DDR5's defenses and poses a significant threat to data security, especially in servers. While no foolproof mitigation exists yet, increasing row refresh rates can make attacks less likely, albeit with a performance trade-off. Google and JEDEC are working on standards like PRAC to address these vulnerabilities in future memory revisions. The research findings have been shared with relevant stakeholders, and efforts are underway to enhance RAM security.