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Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2020-0542

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Improper buffer restrictions in subsystem for Intel(R) CSME versions before 12.0.64, 13.0.32, 14.0.33 and 14.5.12 may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege, information disclosure or denial of service 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 confidence

Improper buffer restrictions in Intel CSME (Converged Security and Manageability Engine) firmware allow an authenticated local user to potentially achieve privilege escalation, information disclosure, or denial of service. This is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the CSME subsystem that can be exploited via local access.

MitigationUpdate Intel CSME firmware to version 12.0.64 or later for branch 12.x, 13.0.32 or later for branch 13.x, 14.0.33 or later for branch 14.0.x, or 14.5.12 or later for branch 14.5.x. This typically requires applying BIOS/UEFI updates from the system OEM or Intel's CSME firmware update tools.

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
Converged Security Management Engine FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.8.77>= 11.10, < 11.12.77>= 11.20, < 11.22.77>= 12.0, < 12.0.64>= 13.0, < 13.0.32>= 14.0, < 14.0.33= 14.5.11

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

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Intel CSME firmware version
    Access the system BIOS/UEFI setup (press Del/F2/F12 at boot), navigate to Security or Intel Management Engine section, and locate the CSME firmware version. Alternatively, on Windows use the Intel CSME Version Detection Tool or run 'wmic baseboard get product,manufacturer,version' or check Device Manager under System devices. On Linux, run 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or use Intel's meinfo tool.
    Affected if The installed CSME firmware version falls within any of these vulnerable ranges: 11.0 to 11.8.76, 11.10 to 11.12.76, 11.20 to 11.22.76, 12.0 to 12.0.63, 13.0 to 13.0.31, 14.0 to 14.0.32, or exactly 14.5.11.
  2. Confirm local access capability
    Verify that an authenticated local user can interact with the CSME subsystem. This vulnerability requires the attacker to have local access to the system and valid credentials to log in. Check if untrusted local users have access to the operating system.
    Affected if The system allows untrusted or low-privilege local users to log in and access CSME-related interfaces or tools.
  3. Verify CSME subsystem is enabled
    Check that Intel CSME is enabled in BIOS/UEFI settings (not disabled or 'Hidden'). CSME is typically enabled by default on business and consumer Intel platforms. If CSME has been explicitly disabled, the attack surface is reduced.
    Affected if Intel CSME is enabled and accessible on the system, allowing potential interaction with the vulnerable subsystem.

You are affected if your installed Intel CSME firmware version matches any of the vulnerable version ranges and you have an active, enabled CSME subsystem accessible to local users.

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

Update Intel CSME firmware to version 12.0.64 or later for branch 12.x, 13.0.32 or later for branch 13.x, 14.0.33 or later for branch 14.0.x, or 14.5.12 or later for branch 14.5.x. This typically requires applying BIOS/UEFI updates from the system OEM or Intel's CSME firmware update tools.

Fix this in Converged Security Management Engine Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $6,000
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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-2020-0542 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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