CVE-2018-12205
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 certificate validation in Platform Sample/ Silicon Reference firmware for 8th Generation Intel(R) Core(tm) Processor, 7th Generation Intel(R) Core(tm) Processor may allow an unauthenticated user to potentially enable an escalation of privilege via physical 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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Intel 7th and 8th Gen Core processor reference firmware involves improper certificate validation during the firmware authentication process. The weakness allows an attacker with physical access to potentially bypass signature verification and inject unauthorized code or escalate privileges at the firmware level.
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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/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 your Intel processor generationRun 'wmic cpu get Name,ProcessorId' or check system information to confirm if you have a 7th Gen (Kaby Lake) or 8th Gen (Coffee Lake) Intel Core processorAffected if The system uses a 7th or 8th Gen Intel Core processor and the firmware has not been updated
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Check the UEFI/BIOS firmware versionEnter the UEFI/BIOS setup during boot (typically DEL or F2 key) and note the firmware version, or use 'dmidecode -s bios-version' on LinuxAffected if The firmware version is older than the latest Intel-provided update for your specific platform
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Determine the firmware sourceConsult your system documentation or contact the OEM vendor to confirm whether your system uses Intel Platform Sample Firmware or Intel Silicon Reference FirmwareAffected if The system implements either Intel Platform Sample Firmware or Intel Silicon Reference Firmware and has not been patched
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Verify Secure Boot statusEnter UEFI/BIOS settings and check if Secure Boot is enabled, or run 'mokutil --sb-state' on LinuxAffected if Secure Boot is disabled, leaving the system vulnerable to unauthorized firmware injection
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Check firmware signature verificationIn UEFI/BIOS settings, look for options related to 'Firmware Signature Verification' or 'Boot Integrity' under the Security or Authentication settingsAffected if Firmware signature verification is disabled or not enforced
You are affected if you have a 7th or 8th Gen Intel Core system running Intel Platform Sample Firmware or Intel Silicon Reference Firmware with an outdated BIOS/UEFI version and Secure Boot disabled.
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 firmware updates provided by Intel and affected OEM vendors. Ensure UEFI/BIOS update processes include proper certificate chain validation and secure boot enforcement.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing24.0 h
- Review / QA12.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $16,384.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12205 — 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-2018-12205 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