CVE-2018-8934
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 · uneditedThe Promontory chipset, as used in AMD Ryzen and Ryzen Pro platforms, has a backdoor in firmware, aka CHIMERA-FW.
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 confidenceA firmware backdoor (CHIMERA-FW) exists in the Promontory chipset used in AMD Ryzen and Ryzen Pro platforms. This backdoor allows unauthorized remote access or control of affected systems through malicious firmware code embedded in the chipset.
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 versionsall 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
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Promontory chipset presenceOn Windows, run 'wmic baseboard get product,manufacturer,version' or check system information. On Linux, try 'lspci' or check /sys/class/dmi/id for AMD Promontory references. Look for 'Promontory' or 'Ryzen' in hardware listings.Affected if System uses AMD Ryzen/Ryzen Pro platform with Promontory chipset - all such systems are affected since all firmware versions are vulnerable
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Check Promontory firmware versionAccess the UEFI/BIOS settings during boot (press Del/F2 depending on board). Navigate to the Promontory firmware update section, or use AMD-provided tools like 'AMD Ryzen Master' or platform-specific firmware flashing utilities to read current firmware version.Affected if Any version is shown - the advisory states all versions are affected
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Verify AMD firmware update statusCheck AMD's support website for Promontory chipset firmware updates relevant to your specific motherboard model. Cross-reference your motherboard's current firmware version against AMD's latest available firmware release for that platform.Affected if No firmware update has been applied, or the installed version predates AMD's patched firmware releases for this vulnerability
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Review chipset firmware integrityIf available, use hardware or software tools that can verify firmware cryptographic signatures or hashes on the Promontory chipset. Some enterprise motherboard tools provide firmware integrity verification.Affected if Firmware integrity cannot be verified, or firmware appears modified from AMD's signed baseline
If your system contains an AMD Ryzen or Ryzen Pro platform with Promontory chipset and the firmware has not been updated to a patched version, you are affected by this backdoor vulnerability.
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 dataApply AMD-provided firmware updates for the Promontory chipset; if no update is available, consider replacing affected hardware or implementing compensating controls such as network segmentation and enhanced monitoring.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-8934 — 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-2018-8934 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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