CVE-2020-12325
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 buffer restrictions in some Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) DCH drivers for Windows* before version 72 may allow an authenticated 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 · high confidenceImproper buffer restrictions in Intel Thunderbolt DCH drivers for Windows (versions before 72) allows an authenticated local user to achieve privilege escalation. The vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking in the driver, enabling a local attacker to exploit the buffer overflow for elevated privileges.
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< 72CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 Intel Thunderbolt driver presenceOpen Device Manager, expand 'System devices', and look for Intel Thunderbolt entries (e.g., 'Intel(R) Thunderbolt 3', 'Intel(R) Thunderbolt Controller'), or run 'driverquery /v | findstr -i thunderbolt' in Command PromptAffected if No Intel Thunderbolt driver is found in Device Manager, then the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability
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Retrieve the Thunderbolt driver versionIn Device Manager, right-click the Intel Thunderbolt device, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version field. Alternatively, run 'wmic path win32_pnpsigneddriver get DeviceID,driverversion' and filter for Thunderbolt devicesAffected if Driver version cannot be retrieved or the driver is not present
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Compare installed version against vulnerable rangeCompare the obtained driver version number to version 72. The version format is typically a 3-digit number (e.g., 70, 71). Any version below 72 (such as 70.x, 71.x) is within the vulnerable rangeAffected if The installed driver version is below 72 (for example, 70, 71, or any 71.x variant)
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Verify the driver is currently loadedOpen Services (services.msc) and check for Intel Thunderbolt-related services, or run 'sc query type= driver' to list loaded drivers. Look for services starting with 'Thunderbolt'Affected if The vulnerable driver is not loaded or the service does not exist
A system is affected if it has Intel Thunderbolt hardware with a DCH driver installed and that driver version is below 72.
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 data72
Update Intel Thunderbolt DCH drivers for Windows to version 72 or later to remediate the improper buffer restriction vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2020-12325 — 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-2020-12325 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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