Add this to the headaches facing Intel Corp. as reports roll in about the vulnerability of the company's computer chips: The company was hit with a class action lawsuit claiming it doesn't have a viable fix for defective x86-64x processors, and the proposed patches will degrade the performance of devices that use them.

The class action complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by lawyers at Doyle APC in San Diego, the Law Office of James R. Hail in Chula Vista and Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings in Nashville, Tennessee, quotes heavily from a Jan 2. report from online tech publication The Register, which said “a fundamental design flaw in Intel's processor chip” left the industry scrambling to “defang the chip-level security bug.” The vulnerability could leave users' sensitive data, such as passwords and log-in keys, open to hacking.

The Register reported that updates to both Linux and Windows operating systems addressing the issue are expected to slowdown machines with Intel chips by 5 percent to 30 percent, depending on the task and processor model.

“In essence, Intel x86-64x CPU owners are left with the unappealing choice of either purchasing a new processor or computer containing a CPU that does not contain the defect, or continuing to use a computer with massive security vulnerabilities or one with significant performance degradation,” the complaint said.

Intel publicly acknowledged the issue Wednesday and said it's working with other chipmakers, including AMD and ARM Holdings, as well as operating system makers, “to develop an industrywide approach to resolve this issue promptly and constructively.” Intel, however,  claimed the performance impacts “should not be significant and will be mitigated with time.” Company representatives didn't respond to an email message seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Chris Cantrell of Doyle APC, one of the lawyers who filed suit Wednesday, said he expects many more suits to be filed on behalf of consumers and businesses against Intel in the coming days and weeks—especially since cloud computing services hosted by Amazon, Google and Microsoft are expected to be impacted by the security fixes.

“I fully expect there to be additional filings and that this will go the usual route of multidistrict litigation,” Cantrell said. “Just the sheer number of devices that we're talking about … Most of the desktop and laptop computers in use today.”