If Purism would sell only motherboard (various standard sizes) + CPU (disabled & neutralized ME) + Pure Boot (Librem Key), would you buy it?

One answer to that, given that the ME is 100% black box and has unlimited access to the system, is “no”.

If you have a separate dedicated NIC then you avoid certain practical attacks although I don’t see any reason why the homunculus CPU firmware couldn’t in theory contain a device driver etc. for the separate NIC.

Network access (trojan horse for remote inwards access, exfiltration) is only one part of security fail. The homunculus CPU could be used by a legitimately authorized local user to conduct a privilege escalation attack.

The security fail is limited only by your imagination.

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