Bmc FirmwareOperating system · Intel

CVE-2020-11489

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.06.06 / 3.38.30 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
NVIDIA DGX servers, all DGX-1 with BMC firmware versions prior to 3.38.30 and all DGX-2 with BMC firmware versions prior to 1.06.06, contain a vulnerability in the AMI BMC firmware in which default SNMP community strings are used, which may lead to information disclosure.

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

The AMI Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) firmware in NVIDIA DGX-1 (versions prior to 3.38.30) and DGX-2 (versions prior to 1.06.06) servers ships with hardcoded default SNMP community strings. These well-known default strings allow remote attackers with network access to the BMC to query SNMP and retrieve sensitive system information including hardware inventory, sensor readings, and configuration data.

MitigationUpdate BMC firmware to version 3.38.30 or later for DGX-1, and 1.06.06 or later for DGX-2. Additionally, change default SNMP community strings to unique values and restrict network access to the BMC to trusted management 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
Bmc FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 3.38.30< 1.06.06

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. Identify BMC firmware version
    Access the BMC web interface or use IPMI command 'ipmiutil ver' or 'ipmitool -c fru list' to retrieve the firmware version. Compare against affected ranges: DGX-1 < 3.38.30, DGX-2 < 1.06.06
    Affected if Firmware version is below 3.38.30 for DGX-1 or below 1.06.06 for DGX-2
  2. Verify SNMP service status on BMC
    Log into BMC web interface and navigate to SNMP settings, or use IPMI command 'ipmiutil getevent -c' or check SNMP configuration via BMC IPMI/Redfish API
    Affected if SNMP service is enabled and accessible on the BMC network interface
  3. Examine SNMP community string configuration
    View SNMP community string settings in BMC web UI under SNMP configuration section, or retrieve via IPMI 'ipmiutil snmp -c' or Redfish API at /redfish/v1/Managers/1/NetworkProtocol
    Affected if Community string is set to default well-known values such as 'public', 'private', 'community', or other manufacturer defaults
  4. Check BMC network accessibility
    Attempt to ping BMC IP address and test SNMP port (UDP 161) connectivity from an untrusted network segment
    Affected if BMC SNMP port is reachable from untrusted or management-untrusted networks

You are affected if your BMC firmware version is below 3.38.30 (DGX-1) or 1.06.06 (DGX-2), SNMP is enabled, and the community strings remain at default well-known values accessible from your network.

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 1.06.06 / 3.38.30 or later
Fixed in 1.06.063.38.30
Interim mitigation

Update BMC firmware to version 3.38.30 or later for DGX-1, and 1.06.06 or later for DGX-2. Additionally, change default SNMP community strings to unique values and restrict network access to the BMC to trusted management networks.

Fix this in Bmc Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2020-11489 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data