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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2020-0543

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Incomplete cleanup from specific special register read operations in some Intel(R) Processors may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable 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 confidence

CVE-2020-0543 is a hardware vulnerability in certain Intel processors where incomplete cleanup from specific special register read operations may allow an authenticated local user to potentially disclose information. The vulnerability stems from residual data remaining in CPU registers after certain read operations are performed, which could be accessed by malicious local actors.

MitigationApply Intel processor microcode and firmware updates (BIOS updates) as provided by Intel and system OEMs. Contact hardware vendors for available patches. This is a low-level CPU vulnerability that requires firmware/microcode updates rather than software patching.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 16.04= 18.04= 19.10= 20.04
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 31= 32
Celeron 1000mHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron 1005mHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron 1007uHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron 1017uHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron 1019yHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Celeron 1020eHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 CPU model
    Run 'lscpu' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' and look for the model name in the 'Model name' field
    Affected if The CPU model is one of: Celeron 1000m, Celeron 1005m, Celeron 1007u, Celeron 1017u, Celeron 1019y, or Celeron 1020e
  2. Check Ubuntu version
    Run 'lsb_release -a' or check '/etc/lsb-release' on Ubuntu systems
    Affected if The version is 12.04, 14.04, 16.04, 18.04, 19.10, or 20.04
  3. Check Fedora version
    Run 'cat /etc/fedora-release' on Fedora systems
    Affected if The version is 31 or 32
  4. Verify microcode version
    Check if Intel microcode updates are loaded: 'dmesg | grep -i microcode' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' looking for 'microcode' version field
    Affected if The microcode version is older than the latest Intel-provided update for the affected CPU model (compare against Intel's microcode release notes)

A user is affected if they run an affected Ubuntu or Fedora version on one of the listed Intel Celeron processors AND have not updated the CPU microcode/firmware to the patched version.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Intel processor microcode and firmware updates (BIOS updates) as provided by Intel and system OEMs. Contact hardware vendors for available patches. This is a low-level CPU vulnerability that requires firmware/microcode updates rather than software patching.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2020-0543 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