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Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2018-12147

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-06-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Insufficient input validation in HECI subsystem in Intel(R) CSME before version 11.21.55, Intel® Server Platform Services before version 4.0 and Intel® Trusted Execution Engine Firmware before version 3.1.55 may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privileges via local access.

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

Insufficient input validation in Intel's Host Embedded Controller Interface (HECI) subsystem within the Management Engine (CSME), Server Platform Services (SPS), and Trusted Execution Engine (TXE) firmware allows a privileged local user to potentially escalate privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of input data passed through the HECI interface, which is used for communication between the host and Intel's management firmware.

MitigationUpdate Intel CSME to version 11.21.55 or later, Intel Server Platform Services to version 4.0 or later, and Intel Trusted Execution Engine Firmware to version 3.1.55 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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
Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, <= 11.8.50>= 11.10, <= 11.11.50>= 11.20, <= 11.21.51
Server Platform Services FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 4.0
Trusted Execution Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 3.0, <= 3.1.50

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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. Identify Intel management engine firmware presence
    Use system information tools (such as 'dmidecode' on Linux, 'wmic' on Windows, or Intel System Debugger/Intel ME Analyzer) to query the Management Engine, Server Platform Services, or Trusted Execution Engine firmware version from the system. On some systems, this information appears in BIOS/UEFI under 'Intel Management Engine' or 'ME' firmware version.
    Affected if The system shows a Management Engine, SPS, or TXE firmware version that falls within the affected ranges: CSME 11.0-11.8.50, 11.10-11.11.50, or 11.20-11.21.51; SPS versions below 4.0; TXE 3.0-3.1.50
  2. Verify HECI interface is active
    Check if the HECI (Host Embedded Controller Interface) device is present and enabled. On Windows, open Device Manager and look for 'Intel Management Engine Interface' or 'HECI' under System Devices. On Linux, check 'ls /dev/heci*' or examine the output of 'lsmod | grep heci' to see if the heci driver is loaded.
    Affected if The HECI interface device is present and enabled, which is the default state on systems with Intel management firmware
  3. Confirm firmware version against affected ranges
    Compare the detected firmware version number to the affected ranges. For CSME: versions 11.0 through 11.8.50, 11.10 through 11.11.50, and 11.20 through 11.21.51 are vulnerable. For SPS: any version below 4.0 is affected. For TXE: versions 3.0 through 3.1.50 are affected.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the affected version ranges listed above

A system is affected if it runs any version of Intel CSME, SPS, or TXE firmware that falls within the vulnerable version ranges and has the HECI interface enabled (which is the default configuration).

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.0 or later
Fixed in 4.0
Interim mitigation

Update Intel CSME to version 11.21.55 or later, Intel Server Platform Services to version 4.0 or later, and Intel Trusted Execution Engine Firmware to version 3.1.55 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Converged Security Management Engine Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2018-12147 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data