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Manageability Engine FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2017-5708

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-11-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Multiple privilege escalations in kernel in Intel Manageability Engine Firmware 11.0/11.5/11.6/11.7/11.10/11.20 allow unauthorized process to access privileged content via unspecified vector.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is a kernel-level privilege escalation vulnerability in Intel Management Engine (ME) Firmware affecting versions 11.0, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.10, and 11.20. The flaw allows an unauthorized local process to escape its security context and access privileged system content by exploiting unspecified flaws in the firmware kernel.

MitigationApply Intel's firmware updates for the Management Engine to patched versions. Organizations should inventory affected hardware, test updates in controlled environments before broad deployment, and verify successful remediation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Manageability Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 11.0= 11.5= 11.6= 11.7= 11.10= 11.20

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Intel ME is present and enabled
    Check the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) driver status. On Windows, open Device Manager and look for 'Intel Management Engine Interface' under System Devices. On Linux, run 'lsmod | grep mei' or check for /dev/mei device. On systems with Intel AMT, also verify AMT is provisioned and enabled in BIOS/UEFI.
    Affected if The device shows no Intel MEI driver or the MEI device is absent, indicating Intel ME may not be present or is disabled.
  2. Retrieve Intel ME Firmware version
    Use the Intel MEInfo tool (meinfo -ver on Linux) or the Intel Management and Security Status application on Windows. Alternatively, access BIOS/UEFI setup and look for Intel ME version information under the Management Engine or AMT configuration section.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve version information may indicate the system lacks Intel ME or access is restricted.
  3. Compare installed version against affected versions
    Match the retrieved firmware version to the list: 11.0, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.10, or 11.20. Ensure exact version matching as patch versions may differ (e.g., 11.0.x).
    Affected if The installed version exactly matches one of the listed versions (11.0, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.10, or 11.20), indicating the system is vulnerable.
  4. Confirm local access vector applicability
    Verify the threat model includes local attackers or malicious processes on the same system. This vulnerability requires an unauthorized local process to exploit the firmware kernel flaw.
    Affected if Local code execution or process isolation boundaries are relevant to your environment's threat model.

A system is affected if Intel Management Engine Firmware version 11.0, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.10, or 11.20 is installed and local privilege escalation is a relevant threat vector.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Intel's firmware updates for the Management Engine to patched versions. Organizations should inventory affected hardware, test updates in controlled environments before broad deployment, and verify successful remediation.

Fix this in Manageability Engine Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-5708 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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