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Technology2h 43m ago
A new kernel called Fractal, developed at MIT, provides a clearer view of processor activity and has uncovered previously unknown behavior in Apple's M1 chip.
MIT, San Francisco, California
Who
Joseph Ravichandran, Mengjia Yan, MIT, Apple's product security team, Mengyuan Li
What
A new kernel called Fractal, developed at MIT, provides a clearer view of processor activity and has uncovered previously unknown behavior in Apple's M1 chip.
When
Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:42:00 GMT · 2h 43m ago
Where
MIT, San Francisco, California ·
Why
The Fractal kernel was built to give researchers a stable and reproducible way to study processor behavior with granular detail, which is difficult with existing operating systems.
The Frontline Impact
How this affects you
Fractal has revealed new insights into Apple's M1 chip, including evidence of 'Phantom' speculative attacks, and provides a new tool for microarchitecture research, potentially leading to more reliable and accurate findings in the field. This could improve the security of future chip designs.
Story chain
2 events in this thread- You are here2h 43m agoA new kernel called Fractal, developed at MIT, provides a clearer view of processor activity and has uncovered previously unknown behavior in Apple's M1 chip.
- Technology2h 50m agoMIT researchers developed a new operating system kernel, Fractal, which allowed them to uncover previously unknown behavior and a potential vulnerability in Apple's M1 processor related to speculative attacks.
Verified Sources & Citations
- HIGHMIT Newshttps://news.mit.edu/2026/to-study-how-chips-really-work-mit-researchers-built-their-own-operating-system-0610
- HIGHMirage Newshttps://www.miragenews.com/mit-builds-custom-os-to-study-chip-functionality-1690038/
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