Final answer:
The correct answer is D. SGX (Software Guard Extensions), which help in creating protected memory enclaves that safeguard sensitive sections of the operating system's memory from being compromised by malware.
Step-by-step explanation:
The security feature in modern CPUs that protects memory areas containing parts of the operating system from malware attacks is D. SGX (Software Guard Extensions).
SGX is a set of security-related instruction codes that are built into some modern Intel CPUs. These instructions enable applications to create secure areas of memory, known as enclaves, which are designed to be protected from processes running at higher privilege levels. This can safeguard sensitive data even if the operating system is compromised by malware.
While TPM (Trusted Platform Module) secures hardware through integrated cryptographic keys, and AES-NI (Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions) accelerates the AES encryption and decryption on the CPU, they do not directly protect memory areas of the OS. DEP (Data Execution Prevention) helps to prevent code execution from non-executable memory segments but does not create protected areas for OS memory like SGX does.