Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2018-3627

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-07-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Logic bug in Intel Converged Security Management Engine 11.x may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code via local privileged 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 confidence

A logic bug in Intel Converged Security Management Engine (CSME) version 11.x allows a local attacker with privileged access to execute arbitrary code, potentially giving them full control over the affected system at the firmware level.

MitigationApply Intel's firmware updates for CSME 11.x through the Intel Management Engine BIOS Update utility or OEM-provided firmware updates, after appropriate testing in a staging environment.

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
Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 11.0
Element Software Management NodeApplication
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
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Intel CSME firmware version
    Use Intel Management Engine (ME) Info Tool, Intel System Tool, or check via BIOS/UEFI setup to determine the installed Converged Security Management Engine firmware version
    Affected if The installed CSME firmware version is 11.0 or within the 11.x branch (e.g., 11.0.x, 11.1.x, etc.)
  2. Verify Netapp Element Software Management Node presence
    Identify if Netapp Element Software Management Node is installed in the environment by checking for the Management Node services or components on the system
    Affected if Netapp Element Software Management Node of any version is present and running
  3. Confirm local privileged access context
    Review system logs and access controls to determine if any local attacker has obtained privileged (administrator/root) access to the affected system
    Affected if An attacker with privileged access exists or has existed on the system

The environment is affected if Intel CSME firmware version 11.x is installed, or if Netapp Element Software Management Node of any version is running, and the system has or could have a local privileged attacker.

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 Intel's firmware updates for CSME 11.x through the Intel Management Engine BIOS Update utility or OEM-provided firmware updates, after appropriate testing in a staging environment.

Fix this in Converged Security Management Engine Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2018-3627 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
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