CVE-2018-16091
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 · uneditedIn System Management Module (SMM) versions prior to 1.06, the SMM certificate creation and parsing logic is vulnerable to several buffer overflows.
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 confidenceThe System Management Module (SMM) contains multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities in its certificate creation and parsing logic. These overflows occur when processing certificate data, potentially allowing attackers to overwrite memory boundaries during certificate handling. Versions of SMM prior to 1.06 are affected by this vulnerability.
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< 1.06CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 Lenovo SMM presenceCheck your system documentation or hardware inventory for Lenovo System Management Module (SMM) firmware. This is typically found on Lenovo ThinkServer, System x, or ThinkSystem servers with embedded management interfaces.Affected if The system does not have Lenovo System Management Module firmware installed.
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Locate SMM firmware versionAccess the SMM web interface or use IPMI commands to retrieve the firmware version. Common methods include: (1) Logging into the Lenovo XClarity Controller or ThinkServer System Management web UI and checking the firmware/inventory section, or (2) Using IPMI command: ipmitool -I lanplus -H <SMM_IP> -U <user> -P <pass> raw command to query firmware version.Affected if Unable to retrieve the SMM firmware version information.
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Compare version against thresholdCompare the installed SMM firmware version to the affected range. The vulnerable versions are any release prior to 1.06. Note that version 1.06 itself is patched and not affected.Affected if The installed SMM firmware version is below 1.06 (for example: 1.05, 1.04, 1.03, etc.)
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Verify certificate handling is accessibleDetermine if the SMM certificate handling features are accessible. This includes the SMM web interface certificate management, certificate signing requests, or any certificate import functionality.Affected if The SMM certificate features are accessible and the firmware version is below 1.06.
You are affected if your Lenovo System Management Module firmware version is anything less than 1.06 and certificate handling features are accessible through the management interface.
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 data1.06
Upgrade SMM firmware to version 1.06 or later to obtain the patched certificate handling code. As a defensive measure, restrict network access to SMM interfaces and validate certificate inputs at network boundaries.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-16091 — 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-2018-16091 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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