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Platform Trust Technology FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2019-11090

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.1.70 / 4.0.20 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Cryptographic timing conditions in the subsystem for Intel(R) PTT before versions 11.8.70, 11.11.70, 11.22.70, 12.0.45, 13.0.0 and 14.0.10; Intel(R) TXE 3.1.70 and 4.0.20; Intel(R) SPS before versions SPS_E5_04.01.04.305.0, SPS_SoC-X_04.00.04.108.0, SPS_SoC-A_04.00.04.191.0, SPS_E3_04.01.04.086.0, SPS_E3_04.08.04.047.0 may allow an unauthenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure via network 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 confidence

Timing side-channel vulnerability in Intel PTT, TXE, and SPS firmware allows unauthenticated network attackers to potentially disclose sensitive information through analysis of cryptographic operation execution times.

MitigationApply firmware updates to Intel PTT, TXE, and SPS to the fixed versions specified in the Intel advisory. This requires BIOS/UEFI firmware updates from the system or motherboard vendor.

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
Platform Trust Technology FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, <= 11.8.70>= 11.10, < 11.11.70>= 11.20, < 11.22.70>= 12.0, < 12.0.45>= 13.0, < 13.0.0>= 14.0.0, < 14.0.10
Server Platform Services FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions>= sps_e3_04.01.00.000.0, < sps_e3_04.01.04.086.0>= sps_e5_04.00.00.000.0, < sps_e5_04.01.04.305.0>= sps_soc-a_04.00.00.000.0, < sps_soc-a_04.00.04.191.0>= sps_soc-x_04.00.00.000.0, < sps_soc-x_04.00.04.108.0
Trusted Execution Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 3.0, < 3.1.70>= 4.0, < 4.0.20

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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 if Intel PTT is present and enabled
    Check system firmware/BIOS settings or use system information tools to determine if Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT) is available on the system
    Affected if Intel PTT is present and enabled on the system
  2. Determine Intel PTT firmware version
    Access the PTT firmware version through BIOS/UEFI setup, Intel management tools, or system firmware interfaces. Compare the installed version against the affected ranges: 11.0-11.8.70, 11.10-11.11.69, 11.20-11.22.69, 12.0-12.0.44, 13.0-13.0.0, 14.0.0-14.0.9
    Affected if The installed PTT firmware version falls within any of the affected version ranges listed
  3. Identify if Intel TXE is present and enabled
    Check system firmware/BIOS settings or use Intel management interfaces to determine if Intel Trusted Execution Engine (TXE) is available on the system
    Affected if Intel TXE is present and enabled on the system
  4. Determine Intel TXE firmware version
    Access the TXE firmware version through BIOS/UEFI setup, Intel management tools, or system firmware interfaces. Compare the installed version against the affected ranges: 3.0-3.1.69, 4.0-4.0.19
    Affected if The installed TXE firmware version falls within any of the affected version ranges listed
  5. Identify if Intel SPS firmware is present
    Check system firmware/BIOS settings or use Intel server management tools to determine if Intel Server Platform Services (SPS) firmware is present on the system
    Affected if Intel SPS firmware is present on the system
  6. Determine Intel SPS firmware version
    Access the SPS firmware version through BIOS/UEFI setup, Intel server management tools, or system firmware interfaces. Compare the installed version against the affected ranges: all versions; sps_e3_04.01.00.000.0 to sps_e3_04.01.04.085.0; sps_e5_04.00.00.000.0 to sps_e5_04.01.04.304.0; sps_soc-a_04.00.00.000.0 to sps_soc-a_04.00.04.190.0; sps_soc-x_04.00.00.000.0 to sps_soc-x_04.00.04.107.0
    Affected if The installed SPS firmware version falls within any of the affected version ranges listed

The system is affected if any of Intel PTT, TXE, or SPS firmware is present with a version matching the affected ranges, since the vulnerability can be exploited through network analysis of cryptographic operation timing.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.1.70 / 4.0.20 / 11.11.70 or later
Fixed in 3.1.704.0.2011.11.70
Interim mitigation

Apply firmware updates to Intel PTT, TXE, and SPS to the fixed versions specified in the Intel advisory. This requires BIOS/UEFI firmware updates from the system or motherboard vendor.

Fix this in Platform Trust Technology Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-11090 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