So is this actually a critical vulnerability, or is this just Intel plugging one of the recently-found exploits that lets us disable the IME?
Guaranteed it's the latter. Intel isn't about to give up the huge contracts it has with NSA.
In fact, that's the whole problem with extrajudicial domestic spying. In defiance of the principles of both justice and logic, the innocent are presumed guilty, and the burden of proof is shifted to the skeptics.