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Core I3Hardware / appliance · Intel

CVE-2018-3620

MEDIUM · 5.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-08-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
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
Systems with microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and address translations may allow unauthorized disclosure of information residing in the L1 data cache to an attacker with local user access via a terminal page fault and a side-channel analysis.

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

CVE-2018-3620 (L1 Terminal Fault) is a speculative execution vulnerability affecting microprocessors with address translation. A local attacker can trigger a terminal page fault and use side-channel analysis techniques to potentially read sensitive data from the L1 data cache, exposing information from previously protected memory regions.

MitigationApply processor microcode updates, OS/kernel patches, and BIOS/firmware updates from hardware and software vendors; consider disabling hyper-threading on affected systems as an additional safeguard.

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
Core I3Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 330e= 330m= 330um= 350m= 370m= 380m= 380um= 390m= 530= 540= 550= 560
Core I5Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 430m= 430um= 450m= 460m= 470um= 480m= 520e= 520m= 520um= 540m= 540um= 560m
Core I7Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 7y75= 610e= 620le= 620lm= 620m= 620ue= 620um= 640lm= 640m= 640um= 660lm= 660ue
Core MHardware / appliance
Affected:= 5y10= 5y10a= 5y10c= 5y31= 5y51= 5y70= 5y71
Core M3Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 6y30= 7y30= 7y32
Core M5Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 6y54= 6y57
Core M7Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 6y75
XeonHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 the CPU model installed
    On Linux, run `cat /proc/cpuinfo` and note the 'model name' or 'model' field. On Windows, run `wmic cpu get name`. On macOS, run `sysctl -a | grep brand`.
    Affected if The CPU is an Intel processor that matches one of the listed affected model numbers (e.g., 330e, 330m, 330um, 350m, 370m, 380m, 380um, 390m, 530, 540, 550, 560 for Core i3; similar for i5, i7, Core M, M3, M5, M7; or any Xeon).
  2. Extract the exact CPU stepping/ID number
    On Linux, run `cat /proc/cpuinfo` and look for 'stepping' or use `rdmsr` if available. On Windows, use CPU-Z or a similar tool. On Intel systems, the microcode version may be checkable via `dmesg | grep microcode` or reading /sys/devices/system/cpu/microcode/version on Linux.
    Affected if The microcode version is older than the version that includes the CVE-2018-3620 fix (contact Intel or your system vendor for the specific fixed microcode version for your CPU model).
  3. Determine if the system supports virtualization and has it enabled
    On Linux, check /sys/modules/kvm_intel/parameters/nested or run `cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -E 'vmx|svm'`. On Windows, check if Hyper-V or Intel VT-x is enabled in BIOS/UEFI settings.
    Affected if Hyper-threading (Simultaneous Multithreading) is enabled on the system, as L1TF can be leveraged to leak data across sibling threads in some scenarios.

The system is affected if it contains an Intel CPU matching one of the listed model numbers and is running with unpatched microcode or with hyper-threading enabled on vulnerable hardware.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply processor microcode updates, OS/kernel patches, and BIOS/firmware updates from hardware and software vendors; consider disabling hyper-threading on affected systems as an additional safeguard.

Fix this in Core I3 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
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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-2018-3620 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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