Serious security flaws which could allow hackers to access sensitive information on computer systems are being investigated.

Researchers at Google said they found flaws affecting computer processors built by Intel and other chipmakers.

The bug could allow access to passwords and other sensitive data from a system's memory, Google's Project Zero team said.

Google and Intel had not planned to revealed the issue until fixes were available, but were forced to do so after the fault was reported by technology news site The Register.

Tech companies typically withhold details about security problems until fixes are available in order to make it harder for hackers to exploit the flaws.

Intel is working to patch the vulnerability and said the average computer user will not experience significant slowdowns as it is fixed.

Google said it also affects other processors and the devices and operating systems running them.

Intel said in a statement: "Intel and other technology companies have been made aware of new security research describing software analysis methods that, when used for malicious purposes, have the potential to improperly gather sensitive data from computing devices that are operating as designed.

"Intel is committed to product and customer security and is working closely with many other technology companies, including AMD, ARM Holdings and several operating system vendors, to develop an industry-wide approach to resolve this issue promptly and constructively. Intel has begun providing software and firmware updates to mitigate these exploits.

"Check with your operating system vendor or system manufacturer and apply any available updates as soon as they are available."

Although Intel cited rival AMD as among the companies it is working with to address the problem, AMD said in a statement that it believes its chips are safe because they use different designs.