CVE-2018-12176
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 · uneditedImproper input validation in firmware for Intel NUC Kits may allow a privileged user to potentially execute arbitrary code resulting in information disclosure, escalation of privilege and/or denial of service 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 confidenceImproper input validation in Intel NUC Kit firmware allows a privileged user with local access to potentially execute arbitrary code via the vulnerability, leading to information disclosure, escalation of privilege, or denial of service. This is a firmware-level input validation flaw in the underlying system firmware/BIOS.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Intel system modelCheck the system label, BIOS screen, or run 'dmidecode -s system-product-name' to confirm the exact model nameAffected if The system is an Intel NUC Kit, Intel Compute Card, or Intel Compute Stick
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Check the current firmware versionEnter the BIOS/UEFI setup (press F2 during boot) and locate the BIOS version under 'Main' or 'Information' tab, or use 'dmidecode -s bios-version' from LinuxAffected if The firmware version displayed is any version (all versions of affected products are vulnerable)
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Verify firmware version is not patchedCompare your installed firmware version against Intel's download page for your specific model - look for firmware versions released after the CVE publication date (November 2018)Affected if The installed firmware predates or lacks the CVE-2018-12176 fix, or no update is available for your specific model
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Assess physical access exposureDetermine whether untrusted individuals could gain physical access to the system (this vulnerability requires privileged local access)Affected if The system is in an environment with untrusted physical access and runs affected firmware
You are affected if your system is an Intel NUC Kit, Compute Card, or Compute Stick running any firmware version that predates the vendor's security update for CVE-2018-12176.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply Intel-provided firmware updates for affected NUC Kit models and restrict physical access to vulnerable systems.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12176 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-12176 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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