dbcve.org
Active Management Technology FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2020-0540

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.8.77 / 11.12.77 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Insufficiently protected credentials in Intel(R) AMT versions before 11.8.77, 11.12.77, 11.22.77 and 12.0.64 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 · moderate confidence

This is an information disclosure vulnerability in Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) where credentials are insufficiently protected. An unauthenticated remote attacker with network access to affected AMT installations can potentially obtain sensitive credential information.

MitigationUpgrade Intel AMT firmware to version 11.8.77, 11.12.77, 11.22.77, 12.0.64 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to AMT interfaces using firewalls or network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted networks.

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
Active Management Technology FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.8.77>= 11.10, < 11.12.77>= 11.20, < 11.22.77>= 12.0, < 12.0.64

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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. Confirm Intel AMT is enabled
    Access the BIOS/UEFI setup during system boot (typically press F2, Delete, or similar key), navigate to Advanced > Management Engine (or similar), and verify Intel AMT (or Intel vPro/AMT) is enabled. Alternatively, access the MEBx (Management Engine BIOS Extension) password screen at startup.
    Affected if Intel AMT is enabled and accessible on the network - this is required for the vulnerability to be exploitable
  2. Determine AMT firmware version via MEBx
    Reboot the system and press the appropriate key (commonly Ctrl+P) at the Intel ME post screen to enter MEBx. Navigate to the main menu and locate the firmware version information. Record the full version number displayed.
    Affected if The displayed firmware version falls within any of these ranges: >= 11.0 and < 11.8.77; >= 11.10 and < 11.12.77; >= 11.20 and < 11.22.77; >= 12.0 and < 12.0.64
  3. Determine AMT firmware version via web interface
    If AMT is already configured, open a web browser and navigate to the AMT web interface (typically https://<hostname>:16992 or https://<hostname>:16993). Log in with admin credentials and locate the version information in the firmware or system information section.
    Affected if The displayed firmware version falls within any of the affected ranges listed above
  4. Determine AMT firmware version via command line tools
    Use Intel firmware tools if available, such as 'meinfo' or 'ftc' from the Intel Management Engine Tools package, or query via the host (if AMT is discoverable). Run the tool and parse the firmware version from the output.
    Affected if The reported firmware version falls within any of the affected ranges listed above
  5. Verify network exposure of AMT ports
    Scan the system or network for open ports commonly used by AMT (16992/tcp and 16993/tcp). Use 'netstat -an' on the local system or an external network scanner. Confirm whether these ports are listening on interfaces accessible from untrusted networks.
    Affected if AMT is enabled AND the firmware version is vulnerable AND ports 16992/16993 are exposed to untrusted network segments

A system is affected if Intel AMT is enabled with firmware version matching any of the vulnerable ranges AND is network-accessible to untrusted attackers.

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 11.8.77 / 11.12.77 / 11.22.77 or later
Fixed in 11.8.7711.12.7711.22.77
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Intel AMT firmware to version 11.8.77, 11.12.77, 11.22.77, 12.0.64 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to AMT interfaces using firewalls or network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted networks.

Fix this in Active Management Technology Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,920
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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-2020-0540 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