CVE-2018-12202
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 · uneditedPrivilege escalation vulnerability in Platform Sample/ Silicon Reference firmware for 8th Generation Intel(R) Core Processor, 7th Generation Intel(R) Core Processor may allow privileged user to potentially leverage existing features 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 · moderate confidenceA privilege escalation vulnerability in Intel 7th and 8th Generation Core processor firmware (Platform Sample/Silicon Reference firmware) allows a privileged local user to elevate privileges by leveraging existing firmware features. The vulnerability requires local (physical) access to the affected system.
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 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Intel processor generationUse system information tools such as 'msinfo32' on Windows or 'lscpu' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' on Linux to determine if the processor is an Intel 7th Generation (Kaby Lake) or 8th Generation (Coffee Lake) Core processor.Affected if The system uses an Intel 7th or 8th Generation Core processor.
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Determine the firmware versionOn Windows, run 'wmic bios get SMBIOSBIOSVersion' or access the BIOS setup screen. On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or check '/sys/class/dmi/id/bios_version'.Affected if A firmware version is returned from the system.
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Identify the firmware vendor and typeRun 'dmidecode -s bios-vendor' on Linux or check the BIOS setup screen for the firmware provider name. Intel Platform Sample and Silicon Reference firmware typically identify themselves as 'Intel Corp.' or similar reference firmware designations in the BIOS information.Affected if The firmware identifies as Intel Platform Sample Firmware or Intel Silicon Reference Firmware.
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Check for reference firmware indicatorsReview the full BIOS information using 'dmidecode' on Linux or system information utilities on Windows. Look for strings such as 'Platform Sample', 'Silicon Reference', or reference platform identifiers in the firmware description.Affected if The firmware is explicitly labeled as Platform Sample or Silicon Reference firmware.
A system is affected if it runs on Intel 7th or 8th Generation Core processors with Intel Platform Sample Firmware or Intel Silicon Reference Firmware installed, regardless of version, and requires physical access to exploit.
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/BIOS updates from the system manufacturer. Restrict physical access to affected systems and verify firmware version integrity after updates.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12202 — 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-2018-12202 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
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