CVE-2018-12206
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 configuration of hardware access in Intel QuickAssist Technology for Linux (all versions) may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable a 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 · moderate confidenceImproper configuration of hardware access in Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT) for Linux allows authenticated local users to potentially cause denial of service by misusing hardware access. QAT provides cryptographic acceleration, and improper permissions or access controls on QAT device nodes enable users to disrupt hardware operation.
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 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Check if QAT devices exist on the systemList contents of /dev/qat* using 'ls -la /dev/qat*' or search with 'find /dev -name "qat*" 2>/dev/null'Affected if QAT device nodes are present in /dev (the system has QAT hardware and drivers loaded)
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Verify permissions on QAT device filesRun 'ls -la /dev/qat*' to view owner, group, and world permissions on each device nodeAffected if Permissions show world-readable/writable (e.g., crw-rw-rw-) or group permissions allow unprivileged users access
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Identify which users and groups have accessCheck the group ownership of /dev/qat* devices and compare against system user list with 'getent group' to determine which accounts can access the devicesAffected if Users outside the intended administrative group can access the QAT device files
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Review device file ACLs if presentRun 'getfacl /dev/qat*' (if ACL tools are available) to check for extended access control entries beyond standard Unix permissionsAffected if ACLs grant additional users or groups access beyond the intended restricted set
A system is affected if QAT device nodes exist with permissive access controls that allow authenticated local users outside the intended admin group to interact with the hardware.
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 dataConfigure proper access controls on QAT device files (typically /dev/qat*) by setting appropriate file permissions (e.g., restrictive group ownership) and verifying hardware access policies align with least-privilege principles.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12206 — 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-2018-12206 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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- 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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