Just ran a tool called InSpectre (read about it here: InSpectre: See whether your PC's protected from Meltdown and Spectre | Computerworld )
in a patched Windows VM. Here are the results I received:
Spectre & Meltdown Vulnerability
and Performance Status
Vulnerable to Meltdown: NO
Vulnerable to Spectre: YES!
Performance: SLOWER
This system's present situation:
This 64-bit version of Windows has been updated for full awareness of both the Spectre and the Meltdown vulnerabilities. If the system's hardware (see below) has also been updated, this system will not be vulnerable to these attacks.
This system's hardware has not been updated with new features required to allow its operating system to protect against the Spectre vulnerabilities and/or to minimize their impact upon the system's performance. (Protection from the Meltdown vulnerability does not require BIOS or processor updates.)
This system's Intel processor does not provide high-performance protection from the Meltdown vulnerability. The use of Meltdown protection on this system will incur some corresponding performance penalty.
This system's older Intel processor does not provide high-performance protection from the Meltdown vulnerability. Windows is therefore doing the best job it can to protect the system, though with a possibly significant performance penalty. You may wish to considering disabling this system's Meltdown protection until it is offered at lower system performance cost.
So it seems even with the ESXi patch I'm still vulnerable to Spectre, as well as taking a performance hit due to the Meltdown patch.
