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DEF CON 26 - Christopher Domas - GOD MODE UNLOCKED Hardware Backdoors in redacted x86

DEFCONConference · talk · Watch on YouTube

Security & hackingComputer architecture & CPUs

What it is

Christopher Domas presents research at DEF CON 26 showing a hidden alternate instruction set and undocumented hardware backdoor in some x86 processors, found on a third-party CPU. He uses it to ask how feasible wider hardware backdoors are.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN regulars treat Domas as a favorite hacker and bring this talk up in any discussion of CPU backdoors, hidden instruction sets or processor security.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2019, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “And yes, they are spectacular.”

    Spectacular talks by Christopher Domas

    daniel-thompson, 2021-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Compiling C Programs Into “Mov” Instructions (And Only “Mov” Instructions)”

  2. “Christopher Domas is one of my absolute favorite all-time hackers.”

    Among favorite talks by Domas, who explains his work fantastically

    MattSteelblade, 2026-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Spaghettifying DRAM”

  3. “This is one of many amazing videos this guy did before they hired him.”

    One of many amazing talks by Domas before Intel hired him

    not1ofU, 2021-12 · Recommendation · in “Intel updates mysterious ‘software-defined silicon’ code in the Linux kernel”

  4. “being amazed at what he's been able to discover”

    Amazing x86 discoveries by Domas

    aecsocket, 2026-08 · Recommendation · in “Spaghettifying DRAM”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: cpu security, undocumented instructions, via cpu, reverse engineering, def con

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