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Pentium F00F bug
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<p>The Pentium F00F bug is a design flaw in the majority of <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a> <a href="/facts/Pentium/czINY469">Pentium</a>, <a href="/facts/Pentium_MMX/dqChAmxz">Pentium MMX</a>, and <a href="/facts/Pentium_OverDrive/dq5xG2mt">Pentium OverDrive</a> <a href="/facts/Microprocessor/Fx9CaQht">processors</a> (all in the <a href="/facts/P5_(microarchitecture)/dqChAmxz">P5 microarchitecture</a>). Discovered in 1997, it can result in the processor ceasing to function until the computer is physically rebooted. The <a href="/facts/Hardware_bug/dsCVKPmN">bug</a> has been circumvented through <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a> updates. </p><p>The name is shorthand for F0 0F C7 C8, the <a href="/facts/Hexadecimal/02ohQW22">hexadecimal</a> encoding of one offending <a href="/facts/Instruction_(computer_science)/8p8vwUeE">instruction</a>. More formally, the bug is called the <i>invalid operand with locked CMPXCHG8B instruction bug</i>. </p>