Intel TDX Gets Major Security Upgrade Following Google Collaboration

Intel has been in the spotlight lately, from reports about Nova Lake-S CPUs potentially drawing up to 700W to fresh security updates developed with Google.

Intel and Google strengthen TDX security on Patch Tuesday

According to Neowin, Intel has published new security findings as part of Windows Patch Tuesday after a joint review with Google. The collaboration focused on improving Intel Trust Domain eXtensions, also known as Intel TDX, a confidential computing technology built into modern Intel Xeon processors.

Intel TDX protects sensitive workloads even when running in environments that could be compromised. This approach plays a major role in cloud and multi-tenant enterprise systems, where isolation and data integrity remain critical.

TDX enables Confidential Virtual Machines, also referred to as Trust Domains. These virtual machines enforce hardware-level confidentiality and integrity protections, blocking even privileged layers like hypervisors from accessing protected memory. Google Cloud already offers Confidential VMs powered by Intel Xeon CPUs, while Microsoft Azure also provides Confidential VMs based on Intel technology.

Five vulnerabilities patched after joint review

The five-month collaboration in 2025 involved Google’s Cloud Security team and Intel’s INT31 research group. The review targeted TDX Module 1.5, which manages high-level TDX functionality.

Engineers evaluated advanced features such as Live Migration, which allows a Trust Domain to move between hosts while running, and TD Partitioning, which enables nested virtual machines inside Trust Domains.

Google used manual code reviews, custom bug-finding tools, and AI tools, including Gemini Pro. The process uncovered five vulnerabilities and 35 additional weaknesses or improvement opportunities. Intel has patched all five vulnerabilities in the latest TDX Module release.

As a result, Google Cloud Confidential VMs backed by Intel TDX now benefit from enhanced protections. Meanwhile, Intel continues to face hardware headlines, with fresh reports about Arrow Lake Refresh and new Core Ultra 5 250K Plus benchmark leaks adding to the conversation.