CVE-2020-12291
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 · uneditedUncontrolled resource consumption 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 vulnerability involves uncontrolled resource consumption in Intel Thunderbolt controllers. An authenticated local user can exploit this to cause a denial of service, likely by exhausting memory, CPU, or other controller resources through malformed or excessive Thunderbolt device interactions.
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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Identify Intel Thunderbolt controller hardwareUse system information tools, device manager, or hardware enumeration commands to list installed Thunderbolt controllers. Look for Intel JHL6xxx, JHL7xxx, or JHL8xxx controller models.Affected if Any of the following controller models are present: Jhl6240, Jhl6340, Jhl6540, Jhl7040, Jhl7340, Jhl7440, Jhl7540, or Jhl8010r
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Retrieve Thunderbolt firmware versionUse Intel firmware update utilities, system BIOS information, or vendor-specific tools to query the current firmware version of the installed Thunderbolt controller.Affected if The reported firmware version is below the threshold for your specific controller model (Jhl6240: <21, Jhl6340/6540: <46, Jhl7040: <22, Jhl7340/7440/7540: <60, Jhl8010r: <41)
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Verify Thunderbolt interface is enabledCheck system settings, BIOS/UEFI configuration, or operating system device status to determine if the Thunderbolt interface is currently enabled and accessible.Affected if Thunderbolt is enabled and the controller firmware version is below the affected threshold
A system is affected if it contains any of the listed Intel Thunderbolt controller models with firmware versions below the specified thresholds and has Thunderbolt functionality enabled.
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 from the system vendor or Intel. If Thunderbolt is not required, consider disabling it in BIOS/UEFI settings to reduce attack surface.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12291 — 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-2020-12291 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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- 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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