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Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2018-12190

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-03-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.1.60 / 4.0.10 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 Intel(r) CSME subsystem before versions 11.8.60, 11.11.60, 11.22.60 or 12.0.20 or Intel(r) TXE before 3.1.60 or 4.0.10 may allow a privileged user to potentially enable an escalation of privilege 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 CSME and TXE firmware subsystems allows a privileged local attacker to potentially escalate privileges. The vulnerability exists in the input validation logic of these security co-processor firmwares before the patched versions.

MitigationApply Intel firmware updates for CSME (versions 11.8.60, 11.11.60, 11.22.60, or 12.0.20 and later) and TXE (versions 3.1.60, 4.0.10 and later) as provided by Intel through the Intel Driver and Support Assistant or system manufacturer updates.

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, < 11.8.60>= 11.10, < 11.11.60>= 11.20, < 11.22.60>= 12.0.0, < 12.0.20
Trusted Execution Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 3.0, < 3.1.60>= 4.0, < 4.0.10

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 if Intel CSME or TXE firmware is present
    Check system information via 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or use Intel CSME Version Detection Tool from Intel's support website. On Windows, check Device Manager under System devices for 'Intel(R) Management Engine Interface' or 'Intel(R) Trusted Execution Engine'.
    Affected if The system contains Intel CSME or TXE firmware components
  2. Determine installed CSME firmware version
    Run Intel CSME Version Detection Tool or use 'intel_csme_version' tool if available. On Windows, check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Firmware\CSMEVersion or use system information utilities that report Intel ME/TXE version.
    Affected if The CSME version falls within: >= 11.0 and < 11.8.60, OR >= 11.10 and < 11.11.60, OR >= 11.20 and < 11.22.60, OR >= 12.0.0 and < 12.0.20
  3. Determine installed TXE firmware version
    Check TXE version via system firmware utilities or Intel System Tools. On Windows systems, TXE version may appear in system information under Trusted Execution Engine or via Intel TXE Version Detection Tool.
    Affected if The TXE version falls within: >= 3.0 and < 3.1.60, OR >= 4.0 and < 4.0.10
  4. Confirm vulnerability is exploitable only if local privileged access exists
    This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability requiring the attacker to already have privileged local access to the system. Verify your system's physical and remote access controls are properly configured.
    Affected if A local privileged attacker already exists on the system and the firmware version is in the affected ranges

A system is affected if it contains Intel CSME firmware versions 11.0 to 11.8.59, 11.10 to 11.11.59, 11.20 to 11.22.59, or 12.0.0 to 12.0.19; OR Intel TXE firmware versions 3.0 to 3.1.59 or 4.0 to 4.0.9, and an attacker already has privileged local access.

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 3.1.60 / 4.0.10 / 11.8.60 or later
Fixed in 3.1.604.0.1011.8.60
Interim mitigation

Apply Intel firmware updates for CSME (versions 11.8.60, 11.11.60, 11.22.60, or 12.0.20 and later) and TXE (versions 3.1.60, 4.0.10 and later) as provided by Intel through the Intel Driver and Support Assistant or system manufacturer updates.

Fix this in Converged Security Management Engine Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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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-2018-12190 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