To be clear, you cannot be harmed by this flaw unless you install and run software on your computer that knows how to exploit it. And, nobody knows of any exploits in the wild, yet.
Well...apparently there's more to it than that. It seems that in many processors (Intel and AMD) there was designed some sort of sub-system, that was always "on" and that it maintained its own network connection, even when the computer was powered off, but still connected.
Some are calling it an intentional "back door" put there by the designers, but they argue that it was never meant to be used without permission by the users...etc.
So it appears THIS is now what has the potential to be exploited...and then a hacker could always view what is in memory. Apparently they couldn't steal, change or delete anything...just view it, so passwords or secrets could be revealed.
The fix to the OS and the firmware is supposed to solve that, but it brings with it some "potential" for a processor speed reduction...which may only really affect some systems and some processes. So the cure may be worse than the sickness...but right now no one really knows what's what for sure.
Microsoft is apparently already pushing the OS patches...so if you have your updates set to auto...you will get them at some point.
The processor firmware patches you have to find, download and run manually...and you need to do that if it matter to you. The firmware patches won't/can't be "pushed" out remotely.
I'm not in the least bit concerned about my online computers...and my DAW is and always has been running offline.
My online computer processors show as one the "vulnerable" ones...so I'm waiting for Dell to kick out the firmware for my processor/computer model in the next week or two....and then I'll probably let the MS patches run too. My online computers are only used for net surfing and basic crap...so I would rather have them protected even if there some minute processing speed hit. The DAW will remain offline....forever.
Here's more info:
Intel Management Engine - Wikipedia