CVE-2018-3704
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 directory permissions in the installer for the Intel Parallel Studio before 2019 Gold may allow authenticated users to potentially enable an escalation of privilege 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 · high confidenceThe Intel Parallel Studio installer (versions prior to 2019 Gold) creates directories with overly permissive access controls, allowing authenticated local users to modify installer-generated files. This permits local privilege escalation as the user can manipulate executables or configurations that run with elevated privileges.
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< 2019all 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 Intel Parallel Studio installation locationCheck for the presence of Intel Parallel Studio by looking for common installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Intel (Windows) or /opt/intel (Linux), or search for 'Intel' software in Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or package manager (Linux).Affected if Intel Parallel Studio or Intel Parallel Studio Xe is found on the system.
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Determine installed version of Intel Parallel StudioLocate the version information in the installation directory or registry. On Windows, check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intel\Parallel Studio in the registry, or look for a 'Version.txt' or similar file in the Intel installation folder. On Linux, check /opt/intel/parallel_studio_xe_*/version.txt or use 'rpm -qi' or 'dpkg -l' for package information.Affected if The version is earlier than 2019 (such as 2018, 2017, 2016, etc.) or is Intel Parallel Studio Xe of any version.
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Inspect directory permissions on installation foldersUsing icacls (Windows) or ls -la (Linux), examine the permissions on the main Intel installation directory and subdirectories such as bin, lib, or common folders created by the installer. For example: 'icacls C:\Program Files\Intel\Parallel Studio' or 'ls -la /opt/intel/'.Affected if The output shows that standard users or the 'Users' group have Modify, Write, or Full Control permissions on directories that contain executables or configurations used by elevated-privilege processes.
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Check for Everyone or Users group with elevated permissionsRun 'icacls /t <intel_directory>' on Windows or 'getfacl -R /opt/intel/<directory>' on Linux to recursively list all permissions. Look for entries granting (I)(M) or (F) flags to Everyone, Users, or authenticated users on executable or configuration directories.Affected if Directories containing executable files (.exe, .dll, .sh) or configuration files have permissions allowing non-admin users to modify contents.
A system is affected if Intel Parallel Studio (version prior to 2019) or Intel Parallel Studio Xe is installed AND the installation directories grant write or modify permissions to standard users or the Users group on directories containing executables or configurations.
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 data2019
Apply the Intel Parallel Studio 2019 Gold update or later, which contains corrected directory permission settings in the installer. Verify that installed directories follow least-privilege principles.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-3704 — 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-2018-3704 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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