CVE-2019-11136
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 · uneditedInsufficient access control in system firmware for Intel(R) Xeon(R) Scalable Processors, 2nd Generation Intel(R) Xeon(R) Scalable Processors and Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processors D Family may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege, denial of service and/or information disclosure 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 · moderate confidenceInsufficient access control in system firmware for Intel Xeon Scalable Processors (1st and 2nd gen) and Xeon Processors D Family allows a privileged local user to potentially escalate privileges, cause denial of service, or disclose information. The vulnerability resides in the firmware layer, likely affecting SMM or UEFI components.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 processor modelRun 'dmidecode -t processor' or 'lscpu' to display CPU information and confirm if the system uses an Intel Xeon Platinum processor from the affected list (8253, 8256, 8260, 8276, 8276m, 8276l, 8280l, 8260l)Affected if The processor model matches one of the listed affected Intel Xeon Platinum models
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Confirm processor generationVerify this is a 1st or 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor by checking the CPU family/model via 'dmidecode -t processor' or Intel processor catalogAffected if The processor is a 1st or 2nd generation Xeon Scalable (or Xeon D family) matching the affected models
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Check system firmware versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or access the UEFI/BIOS setup screen to view the current firmware version installed on the systemAffected if Firmware version information is displayed (note: all firmware versions for the affected models are vulnerable)
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Verify SMM/UEFI is presentConfirm System Management Mode or UEFI firmware is active by checking 'dmidecode -t bios' output for UEFI/BIOS entry point or review system boot configurationAffected if UEFI or legacy BIOS with SMM is enabled (this is the default configuration for affected systems)
A system is affected if it contains any of the listed Intel Xeon Platinum processor models (8253, 8256, 8260, 8276, 8276m, 8276l, 8280l, 8260l) from the 1st or 2nd generation Xeon Scalable family, regardless of firmware version, and runs with UEFI/SMM firmware enabled.
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 Intel firmware updates for affected processors; given local access requirement, also enforce physical security controls and limit privileged local access per least-privilege principles.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-11136 — 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-2019-11136 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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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.
- 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