CVE-2020-0588
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 · uneditedImproper conditions check in BIOS firmware for some Intel(R) Processors may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege 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 confidenceThis is a BIOS firmware vulnerability in certain Intel processors involving an improper conditions check that allows a previously privileged local user to escalate their privileges further. The flaw requires local physical or terminal access to the system, not remote exploitation.
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 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 system processor and BIOS versionRun 'dmidecode -s bios-version' or check BIOS setup for version information. Also run 'lscpu' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' to identify the Intel processor model.Affected if The system uses an Intel processor and has a BIOS version that has not been updated to the vendor-patched version
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Determine if system allows local physical accessCheck if the system is in a physically accessible location (data center, office) where unauthorized persons could gain terminal or console access.Affected if Physical or terminal access to the system is possible for non-administrative users
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Check for existing privileged local accountsReview local user accounts with elevated privileges using 'whoami', 'id', or 'net user' (Windows) / 'cat /etc/passwd' (Linux) to identify any accounts with administrative or root-level access.Affected if There are existing privileged local accounts present on the system that could be exploited for further privilege escalation
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Verify console/terminal access controlsCheck if terminal services, serial console, or IPMI/iLO/iDRAC interfaces are enabled and assess their access controls.Affected if Terminal or console access interfaces are accessible without proper hardening or multi-factor authentication
A user is affected if their Intel-based system runs a BIOS version that has not been patched by the vendor, and the system allows local physical or terminal access with existing privileged accounts present.
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 the Intel-supplied BIOS/firmware update for affected processors. This typically requires coordination with hardware vendors or OEM partners and may involve enterprise deployment tools or physical access for patch application.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0588 — 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-2020-0588 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
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