CVE-2020-12289
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 · uneditedOut-of-bounds write in some Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) controllers may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable 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 · moderate confidenceThis is a memory corruption vulnerability in Intel Thunderbolt controllers where an out-of-bounds write occurs. An authenticated local attacker with physical access to the system can exploit this to cause a denial of service by crashing the controller or potentially the entire system.
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< 21< 46< 46< 22< 60< 60< 60< 41CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Confirm Thunderbolt hardware presenceOn Windows, open Device Manager and expand 'System devices' or look for 'Thunderbolt' under Universal Serial Bus controllers. On Linux, run 'ls /sys/bus/thunderbolt/devices/' or check 'lspci | grep -i thunderbolt'.Affected if No Intel Thunderbolt controller is found in the system hardware inventory.
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Identify the exact Thunderbolt controller modelIn Windows Device Manager, right-click the Thunderbolt device, select Properties, then Details tab and view 'Hardware IDs' or 'Compatible IDs' which contain the Jhlxxxx model designation (e.g., JHL6240, JHL7340). On Linux, check 'ls /sys/bus/thunderbolt/devices/' which lists the controller identifiers.Affected if The controller model is not one of the affected variants: Jhl6240, Jhl6340, Jhl6540, Jhl7040, Jhl7340, Jhl7440, Jhl7540, or Jhl8010r.
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Retrieve the installed firmware versionOn Windows, use Intel Thunderbolt software if installed (Intel Thunderbolt Controller or Intel Thunderbolt Software). In Device Manager, check the Firmware version under the controller's Properties > Driver tab. On Linux, read the firmware version from '/sys/bus/thunderbolt/devices/.../firmware_version' or use 'tbtadm list-devices' if available.Affected if Unable to retrieve a numeric firmware version for the Thunderbolt controller.
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Compare firmware version against affected thresholdsCheck the installed firmware version against these thresholds: Jhl6240 < 21, Jhl6340 < 46, Jhl6540 < 46, Jhl7040 < 22, Jhl7340 < 60, Jhl7440 < 60, Jhl7540 < 60, Jhl8010r < 41. If the controller is one of these models and the version number is less than the threshold, the system is vulnerable.Affected if The installed firmware version for an affected Jhlxxxx controller is below the specified threshold for that model.
The system is affected if it contains any of the listed Intel Thunderbolt 3 controller models (Jhl6240, Jhl6340, Jhl6540, Jhl7040, Jhl7340, Jhl7440, Jhl7540, or Jhl8010r) running firmware versions below the corresponding threshold (21, 46, 46, 22, 60, 60, 60, or 41 respectively).
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 data212241
Apply firmware updates for affected Intel Thunderbolt controllers via Intel's firmware download center or through OEM-provided BIOS/firmware updates. If updates are unavailable, consider disabling Thunderbolt in BIOS/UEFI or limiting physical access to affected systems.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12289 — 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-2020-12289 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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